The Derivatives and the

Rules of Differentiation
Limits
• If the functional values f(x) of a function f draw closer to one and only
one finite real number L for all values of x as x draws closer to a from
both sides, but does not equal a, L is defined as the limit of f(x) as x
approaches a and is written
• Assuming that
limx→a f(x) and
limx→a g(x) both
exist, the rules of
limits are given
below
CONTINUITY
Slope of a
Curvilinear
Function
• The slope of a curvilinear function
is not constant. It differs at
different points on the curve. In
geometry, the slope of a
curvilinear function at a given
point is measured by the slope of
a line drawn tangent to the
function at that point. A tangent
line is a straight line that touches
a curve at only one point.
Measuring the slope of a
curvilinear function at different
points requires separate tangent
lines.
Find the Slope of a Non-Linear Function
THE DERIVATIVE
•Given a function y = f(x), the derivative of the function f at x, written f’(x) or dy/dx, is defined as

where f’(x) is read ‘‘the derivative of f with respect to x’’ or ‘‘f prime of x.’’ The derivative of a function f’(x), or
simply f’, is itself a function which measures both the slope and the instantaneous rate of change of the
original function f(x) at a given point.
Derivative Notation
RULES OF DIFFERENTIATION

• The Constant Function Rule

• The Linear Function Rule

• The Power Function Rule

• The Rules for Sums and Differences

• The Product Rule

• The quotient Rule

• The Generalized Power Function Rule

• The Chain Rule

 HIGHER-ORDER DERIVATIVES

• The second-order derivative, written f’’(x), measures the slope and the rate of
change of the first derivative, just as the first derivative measures the slope
and the rate of change of the original or primitive function. The third-order
derivative f’’’(x) measures the slope and rate of change of the second-order
derivative, etc. Higher-order derivatives are found by applying the rules of
differentiation to lower-order derivatives

• Given y = f(x), common notation for the second-order derivative includes f’’(x),
d2 y/dx2, y’’, and D2 y; for the third-order derivative, f ‘’’(x), d3 y/dx3, y’’’, and D3
y; for the fourth-order derivatives, f (4)(x), d4 y/dx4, y(4), and D4 y; etc.
Implicit Functions
IMPLICIT DIFFERENTIATION
• Some implicit functions can be easily converted to explicit functions
by solving for the dependent variable in terms of the independent
variable; others cannot. For those not readily convertible, the
derivative may be found by implicit differentiation.
Given 3x4 - 7y5 - 86 = 0,
the derivative dy/dx is
found by means of
implicit differentiation in
two steps
EXAMPLES
Get the derivative
• y = f(x) = 5x4(3x - 7)
y = 3x(2x-1) / 5x-2
• y = (2x4 +5)(3x5 -8)
y = (3x-4)· 5x+1 / 2x+7
• Y = 10x8 -6x7 / 2x
y = (8-5)3 / (7x+4)
• Y = 15x2 / 2x2+7x-3
Y=2
• y = (6x3 +9)4
• Y= 1 / 7x3 +13x+3
• Y=(7x+9)2
• Y=(4x5-1)7
Get the second-order derivatives
• Y= 5x / 1-3x
• f(x)=(8x-4)3
Use implicit differentiation to fing the dy/dx
• 2x3+5xy+6y2 = 87
• 7x4+3x3y+9xy2 =496
• (5y-21)3 = 6x5