MATH1.

1
Summary of Lecture #7+8+9

MATH1.1 1 / 31
• Differentiation Rules
d d s
(c) = 0; (x ) = sx s−1 ; (cf )0 = cf 0
dx dx  0
0 0 0 0 0 0 f f 0 g − fg 0
(f ± g) = f ± g ; (fg) = f g + fg ; =
g g2

• Derivatives of trigonometric functions

(sin x)0 = cos x; (csc x)0 = csc x cot x

(cos x)0 = − sin x; (sec x)0 = sec x tan x
1 1
(tan x)0 = = sec2 x; (cot x)0 = − 2 = − csc2 x
cos2 x sin x

MATH1.1 13 / 31
• The Chain Rule
If y = f (u) and u = g(x) are differentiable, then

dy dy du
= · ,
dx du dx
dy
where is evaluated at u = g(x).
du

• The “outside-inside” principle for using the Chain Rule?

First, find and differentiate the outside function.

Next, evaluate what you get at the point g(x).
Finally, multiply that by the derivative of the inside function,
evaluated at x.

MATH1.1 14 / 31
• The Power Rule combined with the Chain Rule
If s is a real number and u = g(x) is differentiable, then

d s du
(u ) = su s−1 .
dx dx

• Examples
d
4 d
2x 2 − x 3 = 4(2x 2 − x 3 )3 2x 2 − x 3 =


dx dx
4(2x 2 − x 3 )3 (4x − 3x 2 )
 
d 1 d
= (2x − 3)−1 =
dx 2x − 3 dx
d 1 2
(−1)(2x − 3)−2 (2x − 3) = − 2
·2=−
dx (2x − 3) (2x − 3)2

MATH1.1 15 / 31
• A longer chain

Suppose that y = f (u), u = g(x), and x = h(t), where f , g, and

h are differentiable functions. Then, to compute the derivative of
y with respect to t, we use the Chain Rule twice:

dy dy dx dy du dx
= · = · · .
dt dx dt du dx dt

It is similar for more functions.

MATH1.1 16 / 31
• Implicit Differentiation
Some functions are defined implicitly by a relation between x
and y , say F (x, y ) = 0, such as

x 2 + y 2 = 25, y 2 − x = 0, x 3 + y 3 − 9xy = 0,

for which we cannot solve an equation for y in terms of x in

order to find the derivative of y .
dy
• Is it possible to find ?
dx
dy
Fortunately, the answer is YES. We may still be able to find
dx
by the technique of implicit differentiation.

MATH1.1 17 / 31
• Implicit differentiation technique

Differentiate both sides of the equation w.r.t x (considering

y as a differentiable function of x)
dy
Collect the terms with on one side of the equation and
dx
dy
solve for .
dx

MATH1.1 18 / 31
• Related Rates
Idea: To compute the rate of change of one quantity, in terms of
the rate of change of another quantity (which may be more
easily measured).

The procedure
First, find an equation of the two quantities
Next, use the Chain Rule (to differentiate both sides w.r.t.
time) to get the relation between their rates.

MATH1.1 19 / 31
• Linear Approximations
This is the way to approximate values of functions.
Idea: It might be easy to calculate the value of function f (x) at a
point x = a, but difficult (or even impossible) to compute f (x) at
nearby points (x ≈ a).
So we approximate the f (x) at (x ≈ a) by the linear function
L(x), whose graph is the tangent line of f (x) at (a, f (a)).

MATH1.1 20 / 31
• Approximation formula

For f which is a differentiable function at a point x = a, the

linearization of f at a is the approximating function

L(x) = f (a) + f 0 (a)(x − a)

We have the following standard linear approximation of f at

a
f (x) ≈ L(x).

MATH1.1 21 / 31
• Differentials
Suppose y = f (x) is a differentiable function.
The differential dx is an independent variable.
The differential dy is

dy = f 0 (x) dx.

Geometrically, on the graph of f (x):

From a point P(x, f (x)), if we increase the coordinate x by a

small value ∆x (the change in x), then we arrive at a new
point Q(x + ∆x, f (x + ∆x)) on the graph.
Often the variable dx is chosen to be ∆x, ; i.e. dx = ∆x.
Then the change in y is ∆y = f (x + ∆x) − f (x).

MATH1.1 22 / 31
• For what is differential dy used?

The differential dy can be used as an approximation of ∆y .

Clearly, compute dy is easier than finding ∆y .

MATH1.1 23 / 31
• Maximum and Minimum (Extreme) Values
Let c be a number in the domain D of a function f (x).

Then number f (c) is the

absolute maximum value of f (x) on D, if f (c) ≥ f (x) for all
x ∈D
absolute minimum value of f (x) on D, if f (c) ≤ f (x) for all
x ∈ D.

The number f (c) is a

local maximum value of f (x) if f (c) ≥ f (x) when x is near c
local minimum value of f (x) if f (c) ≤ f (x) when x is near c.

MATH1.1 24 / 31
• The Extreme Value Theorem
If f (x) is continuous on a closed interval [a, b], then f (x) attains
both an absolute maximum value f (c) and an absolute minimum
value f (d) at some number c and d in [a, b].

=⇒ Conditions continuity and closed interval in the Extreme

Value Theorem are essential; that is if either of these conditions
is omitted, then a function may not have extreme values.

MATH1.1 25 / 31
• Fermat’s Theorem
The Extreme Value Theorem does not tell us how to find these
extreme values. However, we can start by looking for local
extreme values.

Fermat’s Theorem
If f has a local maximum or minimum at an interior point c of its
domain, and if f 0 (c) exists, then

f 0 (c) = 0.

MATH1.1 26 / 31
• Conclusion
Recall that all the domains we consider are intervals or unions
of separate intervals.

The only places where a function can possibly have an extreme

value (local or global) are:
interior point where f 0 = 0
interior point where f 0 in undefined
end-points of the domain.

MATH1.1 27 / 31
• Critical points

An interior point c of the domain of a function f is called a critical

point, if either f 0 (c) = 0 or f 0 (c) does not exist.

=⇒ If f (x) has a local maximum or minimum at x = c, then c is

a critical number of f (x).
=⇒ Thus the only points (of the domain) of a function can
assume extreme values are critical points and end-points.

MATH1.1 28 / 31
• How to find absolute extreme values?
The Closed Interval Method
To find the absolute maximum and minimum values of a
continuous function f on a closed interval [a, b]:
1 Find the values of f at the critical points of f in (a, b).
2 Find the values of f at the end-points of the interval.
3 The largest of these values from steps 1) and 2) is the
absolute maximum values; the smallest of these values is
the absolute minimum value.

MATH1.1 29 / 31
• Rolle’s Theorem
Let f be a function that satisfies the following three conditions:
1 f is continuous on the closed interval [a, b]
2 f is differentiable on the open interval (a, b)
3 f (a) = f (b).
Then there is a number c ∈ (a, b), such that f 0 (c) = 0.

This theorem says that the graph of a differentiable function has

at least one horizontal tangent between any two points where it
crosses a horizontal line.

MATH1.1 30 / 31
• The Mean Value Theorem (Lagrange’s Theorem)

Let f be a function that satisfies the following conditions:

1 f is continuous on the closed interval [a, b]
2 f is differentiable on the open interval (a, b).
Then there is a number c ∈ (a, b) such that

f (b) − f (a)
f 0 (c) = , or equivalently, f (b) − f (a) = f 0 (c)(b − a).
b−a

This theorem indicates there exists (at least one) point on the
graph, such that the tangent to the curve at this point is parallel
to the secant joining two endpoints (a, f (a)) and b, f (b)).

MATH1.1 31 / 31