UNIT 2 – INCREMENT AND DERIVATIVE OF A FUNCTION

RATE OF CHANGE
y
Recall that the symbol gives the average rate of change of y with respect to
x
x . That is with x changing from x to x  x , y correspondingly changes from to
. If a quantity say changes with quantity , the rate of change of with respect
to represented by at a particular instant, say when is called the
instantaneous rate of change of with respect to

1
Example 1. For the function y  , at what value of is the rate of change of with
x
respect to equal to
dy
Solution: The instantaneous rate of change of y with respect to x is represented by
dx
at the unknown value of
1
y  y 
x  x
1 1
y  
x  x x
x  x  x 
y 
x x  x 
 x
y 
xx  x 
y 1

x xx  x 
𝑑𝑦 1 1
lim
𝑑𝑥 𝑥→0 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥2
Using the given condition that the rate of change of y with respect to x equals  4 will
result to the unknown value of

dy
 4
dx
1
 4
x2
1
x2 
4

1
x
2

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UNIT 2 – INCREMENT AND DERIVATIVE OF A FUNCTION

Example 2. Find the rate at which the volume of the cube changes with respect to its
edge when the edge measures 2 cm.
Here, we like to find the instantaneous rate of change of the volume with respect
to the edge of cube when the edge measures 2 cm, that is, when .

Recall the formula to find volume V of a cube having edge e , that is, V  e3 .Using
the Increment Method of differentiation,

V  V  e  e 
3

V  e  e   e3
3

V  e3  3e 2 e  3ee   e   e3
2 3

V  3e 2 e  3ee 2 e 
3


V  e 3e 2  3ee  e 
2

V
 3e 2  3ee  e 
2

e
𝑉 dV
lim lim 3e𝑒22 𝑒 𝑒 𝑒 2
𝑒→0 𝑒 𝑒→0
de

cm3
 32  12
dV
When e  2 cm,
2

de cm

Example 3. Boyle’s Law for the expansion of a gas is PV  4 , where P is the number of
pounds per square unit of pressure, V is the number of cubic units in the
volume of the gas, and k is a constant. Find the instantaneous rate of
change of the volume with respect to the pressure when V  8 .

Solution: To find the instantaneous rate of change of the volume with respect to the
pressure , first, we express the volume as a function of pressure. Thus, . Then,
dV
using the Increment Method, we derive expression for .
dP

4
V  V 
P  P
4 4
V  
P  P P
4 P  4P  P 
V 
PP  P 

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UNIT 2 – INCREMENT AND DERIVATIVE OF A FUNCTION

 4P
V 
PP  P 
V 4

P PP  P 
𝑑𝑉 𝑉
lim lim
𝑑𝑃 𝑃→0 𝑃 𝑃→0 𝑃 𝑃 𝑃 𝑃2

When . Substitution on the above equation will yield:

2

𝑑𝑉
2 ∙ 16
𝑑𝑃 1 1

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UNIT 2 – INCREMENT AND DERIVATIVE OF A FUNCTION

SAQ7
ACTIVITY 2.3 – C

NAME: ____________________________________________________ SCORE: ______________

SECTION: ___________DATE: _______________ PROF: __________________________________

Use the Increment Method of differentiation to solve for the unknown.

1
1. For the function y  , at what values of will the rate of change of with respect to be
2 x
equal to ?

2. Find the rate of change of the area of a circle with respect to its diameter when the radius is 4 cm.
2 2
Area of a circle .

3. Find the rate of change of the volume of a right circular cylinder of constant altitude of 15 cm with
2
respect to its base radius when the radius measures 2 cm. Volume of a right circular cylinder .

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UNIT 2 – INCREMENT AND DERIVATIVE OF A FUNCTION

4. Find the rate of change of the hypotenuse of a right triangle having a constant base of 2cm with
respect to its altitude when the altitude measures 21 cm. Hint: Use Pythagorean Theorem.

5. Find the rate of change of the area of an equilateral triangle when the side measures 16 cm.

√ 2
Area of an equilateral triangle .

Differential Calculus Module 4 – Rate of Change Page 56

UNIT 2 – INCREMENT AND DERIVATIVE OF A FUNCTION

ASAQ7
ACTIVITY 2.3 – C

NAME: ____________________________________________________ SCORE: ______________

SECTION: ___________DATE: _______________ PROF: __________________________________

Use the Increment Method of differentiation to solve for the unknown.

1
1. For the function y  , at what values of will the rate of change of with respect to be
2 x
equal to ? 6

2. Find the rate of change of the area of a circle with respect to its diameter when the radius is 4 cm.
2 2
Area of a circle .

3. Find the rate of change of the volume of a right circular cone of constant altitude of 15 cm with
2
respect to its base radius when the radius measures 2 cm. Volume of a right circular cylinder .
6

Differential Calculus Module 4 – Rate of Change Page 57

UNIT 2 – INCREMENT AND DERIVATIVE OF A FUNCTION

4. Find the rate of change of the hypotenuse of a right triangle having a constant base of 2cm with
respect to its altitude when the altitude measures 21 cm. Hint: Use Pythagorean Theorem.
√2

5. Find the rate of change of the area of an equilateral triangle when the side measures 16 cm.

√ 2
Area of an equilateral triangle . √

Differential Calculus Module 4 – Rate of Change Page 58