Instantaneous Rate of Change — Lecture 8.

The Derivative.
Recall that the average rate of change of a function y = f (x)
on an interval from x1 to x2 is just the ratio of the change in y to
the change in x:
∆y f (x2) − f (x1)
= .
∆x x2 − x1
For example, if f measures distance traveled with respect to time
x, then this average rate of change is the average velocity over that
interval. But that leaves us with the question of what is the in-
stantaneous velocity at some moment x0, the velocity that the
speedometer in a car is claimed to give us?
The answer is in some sense quite easy to give: The instanta-
neous rate of change of the function y = f (x) at the point x0
in its domain is:
∆y f (x0) − f (x)
lim = lim .
x→x0 ∆x x→x0 x0 − x
provided this limit exists.
Example 1. Let f (x) = 1/x and let’s find the instantaneous
rate of change of f at x0 = 2. The first step is to compute the
average rate of change over some interval x0 = 2 to x; and in order
for this to make sense we need x 6= 2. So that average rate of change
is  
1 1
−
∆y f (2) − f (x) 2 x x−2 1
= = = =− .
∆x 2−x 2−x 2x(2 − x) 2x
Thus, the instantaneous rate of change at x0 = 2 is
∆y −1 1
lim = lim =− .
x→2 ∆x x→2 2x 4
 The instantaneous rate of change at some point x0 = a involves
first the average rate of change from a to some other value x. So if
we set h = a − x, then h 6= 0 and the average rate of change from
x = a + h to x = a is
∆y f (x) − f (a) f (a + h) − f (a)
= = .
∆x x−a h
Either of these last two ratios is known as a difference quo-
tient, a term we shall us repeatedly. With this notation the in-
stantaneous rate of change of f at x = a is the limit, if it
exists,
f (a + h) − f (a)
lim .
h→0 h
This has a brief official name:
The derivative of f at x = a, denoted by
f 0(a) is
f (a + h) − f (a)
f 0(a) = lim ,
h→0 h
the instantaneous rate of change of f at a, if it exists.

Example 2. Let’s calculate the derivative of f (x) = x2 at x = 3.

From the above definition we have

f (3 + h) − f (3)
f 0(3) = lim
h→0 h
(3 + h) − 32
2
= lim
h→0 h
9 + 6h + h2 − 9 6h + h2
= lim = lim
h→0 h h→0 h
= lim (6 + h) = 6.
h→0

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 It is definitely important to understand the geometric significance
of the derivative or instantaneous rate of change. The key is to
remember that the average rate of change of a function y = f (x)
from some value a to some other value a + h is just the change in
f (x) divided by the (non-zero!!!) change in x, and this is just the
slope of the line Lh between the two points
(a, f (a)) and (a + h, f (a + h)).
Now let’s assume the the graph of y = f (x) near x = 1 is smooth
and not too wiggly. Then the smaller we choose h the closer the
point a + h is to a, and the closer to the line L through these points
is to a line that just touches the graph at the point (a, f (a) on the
graph. Untitled-1 1

20
L (tangent line)

15

(a, f (a)) r
10

0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

This limiting line L is called the tangent line to the graph at

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the point (a, f (a)), and the punch line is

The slope of the line tangent to the graph y = f (x)

at the point (a, f (a)) is the derivative
f (a + h) − f (a)
f 0(a) = lim ,
h→0 h
of y = f (x) at (a, f (a)), if it exists.

Example 3. We saw in Example 2 that the derivative of f (x) =

x at x = 3 is f 0(3) = 6, so the line tangent to the parabola y = x2
2

at the point (3, f (3)) = (3, 9) is

y = 6(x − 3) + 9 = 6x − 9.

Example 4. Next let’s look at a case where there is no derivative

and no tangent line. Consider the function f (x) = |x| and let’s see
what, if anything, its derivative is at x = 0. Remember

x, if x ≥ 0;
|x| =
−x, if x < 0.
So the appropriate difference quotient at x = 0 is

∆y |0 + h| − |0| |h| 1, if h > 0;
= = =
∆x h h −1, if h < 0.
But
|h|
lim
h→0 h
simply does not exist! So at x = 0 the function f (x) = |x| has
no derivative and the graph of y = |x| has no tangent at x = 0 —
something that is quite clear from a glance at the graph!

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 Most of the functions we will encounter will have derivatives at
most points in their domains. Generally speaking, derivatives will
exist at points on the graph where the function is continuous and
there is no sharp corner (as in the absolute value function). There
are some pretty nasty functions out there with quite bizarre behavior,
but fortunately, we won’t have to deal with them here!
So, let y = f (x) be one of our reasonably nice functions with
derivatives at most points in its domain. Then at each such point
there is a derivative, and hence there is a new function that assigns
to each such nice point x in the domain of f a value, f 0(x). Not sur-
prisingly, we call this new function the derivative of f (x).
Thus,

The derivative of a function y = f (x)

is the function defined by
f (x + h) − f (x)
f 0(x) = lim .
h→0 h

So the derivative f 0(x) of a function y = f (x) spews out the slope

of the tangent to the graph y = f (x) at each x in the domain of f
where there is a tangent line. One thing we will have to deal with is
that there is quite a variety of notational versions of the derivative of
a function y = f (x). Here are the ones we are most likely to meet:
d d df dy
f 0(x), f, f (x), , .
dx dx dx dx

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 Example 4. Let’s find the derivative of the function f (x) = x2.
Well, from the definition above
f (x + h) − f (x)
f 0(x) = lim
h→0 h
(x + h) − x2
2
= lim
h→0 h
x + 2xh + h2 − x2
2
= lim
h→0 h
2xh + h2
= lim = lim (2x + h)
h→0 h h→0
= 2x.
Thus at each point x in R, the domain of f , the tangent to the
parabola y = x2 has slope f 0(x) = 2x.
Example 5. Given y = 1/x, let’s find the equation of the line
tangent to the graph of this equation at the point (4, 1/4). First step
dy
is to calculate the “slope” function, the derivative . Well,
dx
dy f (x + h) − f (x)
= lim
dx h→0 h
1/(x + h) − 1/x
= lim
h→0 h
x − (x + h)
= lim
h→0 hx(x + h)
−1 −1
= lim 2 = 2.
h→0 x + xh x
dy 
 1
So when x = 4, the derivative is = − . Therefore, the
dx x=4 16

tangent line at (4, 1/4) is
y = −1/16(x − 4) + 1/4 = −1/16x + 1/2.

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 Practice Problems.

1. Find the derivative f 0(x) of the function f (x) = 5x + 2.

2. Find the derivative dy/dx of the constant function y = 4.
√
3. Find the tangent line to the graph y = x at the point (4, 2).
4. Find all points on the graph of f (x) = 3x2 + 1 where the tangent
line has slope 1.
5. Find the derivative of the function y = f (x) = |x − 2| at the
point x = 2.
6. A car starting from a dead stop is s(t) = t2 feet from the starting
point t seconds after it begins to move. What is the velocity of
the car 20 seconds after it begins its journey? How long does it
take for the car to reach a speed of 60 mph? Of 80 mph?