35

Unit 5 – APPLICATION OF DERIVATIVES

General Objective of the Unit:

At the end of the unit the student should be able to comprehend with
application of derivatives.

Specific Objectives:

At the end of the unit, the student is expected to:

1. Familiar with the use of maxima and minima;

2. Determine the maxima and minima of the given function; and
3. Solve applied problems related to maxima and minima.

Content:

Learning Activity 5.1: Applications of maxima and minima

The first derivative when vanishes assumes an extreme value, provided

the derivative changes sign at that point. This result finds application in a great
variety of problems, some of which will be considered here.

When the derivative is equated to zero, the critical values are obtained. In
practice, the value that gives the desired maximum or minimum can often be
selected at once by inspection.

Example 1: A sheet of paper for a poster contains 18 ft 2 . The margins at

the top and bottom are 9 inches and at the sides 6 inches. What are the
dimensions if the printed area will be maximum.

Solution: Let x  the length of the poster (ft)

18
 the width of the poster (ft)
x

 18 3 
Hence, the printed area  A  x  1   See Fig. 5.1
 x 2

d  18 3   18 3  d
 x  1        x  1
dA
dx dx  x 2   x 2  dx
 36

18 3
 2
 0
x 2

x2 3 ft
18 18
 3 3 ft
x 2 3
Example 2: A cylindrical container with circular base is to hold 63 cubic
inches. Find the dimensions so that the amount (surface area) of metal required
is a minimum when (a) the container is an open cup and (b) a close can.

Solution: Let r  the radius of the base of the container (inches)

h  the height of the container (inches)

(a) Then, we have

A  2rh  r 2

Fig. 5.1

Fig. 5.2

64
V  r h  642 h 2
;
r
Hence,

 64  128
A  2r  2   r 
2
 r 2
 r  r
 37

dA 128
  2  2r 
2 r 3  64
0
 
2
dr r r
64 64 4
4 h  
r r 2  4 
2 3

3
 ;
  3 
  

(b) V  r 2 h  64 ;

dA 128
  2  4r 
4 r 3  32
0
 
2
dr r r

 4
64 64 4
h 2 
r  2
4 3
3 r  4
2

 ;
2 3 
 
Example 2: A cylindrical container with circular base is to hold 64 cubic
inches. Find the dimensions so that the amount (surface area) of metal required
is a minimum when (a) the container is an open cup and (b) a close can.

Solution: Let r  the radius of the base of the container (inches)

h  the height of the container (inches)

Then, (a) we can have

64
V  r h  64 2 h 2
;
r
 64  128
A  2rh  r 2  2r  2   r 2   r 2
 r  r
 38

dA 128
  2  2r 
2 r 3  64
0
 
2
dr r r
64 64 4
r
4 h  
r 2  4 
2 3

3
 ;
  3 
  

 64 
A  2rh  2r 2  2r  2   2r
2
(b)
 r 

dA 128
  2  4r 
4 r 3  32
0
 
2
dr r r

64 64  4
 4 h   43 
r  2 3  r 2  
2  
 
    23
4
;

 
 
Learning Activity 5.2: Using the auxiliary variable

If the function under consideration is most readily expressed in terms of

two variables, the relation between these variables must be found from the
conditions of the problem.

Example 1: Find the shape of the largest rectangle that can be inscribed in
a given circle.

Solution: The presentation of the problem is shown in Fig. 5.2. In the

figure it can be observed that the circle and rectangle are related because they
had points in common to each other. Hence, we can have

x2  y2  r 2 and A  4 xy

Then, we can equate the values of y ' from the two equations. Thus,
 39

x
2 x  2 yy '  0 ;
y'  
y

4xy'y   0
y
;
y'  
x
Hence, we get
x y
 
y x or
yx

x 2  y 2  r 2  x 2  x 2  2x 2
r
x  2r
2
Therefore, the dimensions of the rectangle are 2r by 2r , a square.

Fig. 5.5

Fig. 5.4

Fig.5.3

Example 2: A man in a motorboat at A (see Fig. 5.3) receives a message

at noon calling him to B . A bus making 40 mph leaves C bound for B at 1:00
pm. If AC  40 miles, what must be the speed of the boat to enable him to catch
the bus?

Solution: From the figure,

dx dS
S 2  x 2  40 2 ;  40 mph ; ?
dt dt
 40

dS dx
2S  2x ;
dS x dx 40 x
 
dt dt dt S dt S
The time spent in travel from A to B is

S x
ts  1 
x  1
; dS 40
40
dt
S 2  40 x  x 2 ; x 2  40 2  40 x  x 2 ;

x  40 miles
Hence,
dS 4040 
S  40  40 2 2
and
  28.28 mi / hr
dt 40  40
2 2

Example 3: Find the shortest distance from the curve 2 y 2  x 3 to point

5,0 .
Solution: In Fig. 5.4, we have

2 y 2  x3 S 2  5  x   y 2
2

 25  x  1  2 yy'  0

dS
4 yy '  3 x 2 2S
dx
 41

3x 2 5 x
y'  y' 
4y y
3x 2 5  x

y y
3 x 2  4 x  20  0
3x  10 x  2  0
x2
x3 23
y  2
2 2
S 5  x 2  y 2  5  2   2 2  13
2

Example 4: A lot has the form of a right triangle, with perpendicular sides
60 and 80 ft long. Find the length and width of the largest rectangular building
that can be erected, facing the hypotenuse.

Solution: Using Figure 5.5, let A  the area of the building, so that we can
get the hypotenuse equals 100:

100  y  d  d1 ; A  xy
Then,
x 80 4 3x
  ; d
d 60 3 4
x 60 3 4x
  ; d1 
d1 80 4 3
Hence,
3x 4 x 25 x
100  y   ;
y  100 
4 3 12
Thus,
 42

 25 x  x  24 ft
A  x100  
 
2524 
12
25 x 1200  25 x ; y  100   50 ft
A'    0 12
12 12

Learning Activity 5.2: Applying the rate of change in problems

The rate change can be applied somewhat in real problems in relation to

distance, speed and time.

The following are applied problems whose solutions are precisely using
the rate of change related distance, speed and time.

1. A man 6 ft tall walks away from a lamp post 16 ft high at the rate of 5 mph.
how fast does the end of his shadow move?

dy ds
Solution: Referring Fig. 5.6, let 5mph and  the rate of the end of
dt dt
the moving shadow. Then, we have the proportion

16 6
 10 s  16 y
s s y or

Then,
dy
dt  165  8mph
16
ds dy ds
10  16 or 
dt dt dt 10 10

Fig. 5.6

Fig. 5.7

2. The boy on a bike rides north 5 miles then turns east. If he rides 10 mph,
at what rate was his distance to the starting point S changing 2 hr he left
that point? (Fig. 5.7)
 43

dy
Solution: Let t  the total time in traveling and  the rate of change of
dt
dx
the distance y . Since  10 mph , then we can have
dt

5 x
t 2  ; x  15 miles
10 10

y  5 2  15 2  250  5 10
However, we can get

y 2  52  x 2
dy dx
2y  2x
dt dt
 1510 
dy
5 10
dt
dy 1510 
  3 10 mph
dt 5 10
Example 3: Water is flowing into a conical reservoir 20 ft deep and 10 ft
across the top at the rate of 15 ft 3 / min . Find how fast the surface is rising when
the water is 8 ft deep.

dV
Solution: Let  15 ft 3 / min and h  the height of the reservoir. Then,
dt
referring to Fig. 5.8, we can obtain

h
V  r h 1
3
2
and
r

5
or
r
h 20 4
2
h
V  13    h
4
dV 
 3h 2 dh
dt 48 dt
 44

When h  8 , we get

3 3 dh
15  8 ;
dh
 1.19 ft / min
48 dt dt
Example 4: A ship sails east 20 miles and then turns N 30W . If the ships
speed is 10 mph, find how fast it will be leaving the starting point 6 hrs after the
start.

Solution: Let 10t  the distance covered after traveling 20 miles and in Fig.
5.9, we have

S  x2  y2
But
x  20  10t cos 60  20  5t
y  10t sin 60  5 3t
Thus, we get
2

S 2  20  5t   5 3t 2
 100t 2  200t  400
dS
2S  200t  200
dt
dS 100t  100

dt S
20
When T  6 
10
 t , we obtained t  4hrs . Hence,

20  452  5 34

2
S  20 3
Therefore,
dS 1004  100 15
   8.66 mph
dt 20 3 3
 45

Fig. 5.9

Fig. 5.8

Learning Activity 5.2: Familiarizing the differentials

Consider the interval in which a curve relating x and y has slope y'.
Then, let Px, y  be a point on the curve as in Fig. 5.10 or Fig. 5.11. A change
x in the value of x change y to some amount y. In the figures P ' is the point
x  x, y  y ; y is the distance P' S. We seek for y an approximation which
must satisfy two requirements: First it must be possible to prove that the
difference between the approximation and y can be made small by taking x
sufficiently small; second, the approximation must be easy to compute.

Fig. 5.10 Fig. 5.11

Again, in the figures the tangent line at P intersects the ordinate through
P ' at point R. The length SR is an approximation to SP'  y for small x. At P
SR
the slope is . Since PS  x, so we obtain
PS

SR  y ' x.

Hence the second requirement is satisfied by SR.

The difference between SR and SP' is given by

P' R  SR  SP'  y' x  y.

 46

P' R
When P' R  0 as x  0. Also let  0 as x  0, then
x

P' R  y 
Lim  Lim y '   y ' y '  0
x 0 x x 
x 0

The quantity SR is called the differential of y and is denoted by dy. From
SR  y' x, we have

dy  y ' x.
If y  x, y '  1, the result is

dx  x
To avoid conflict when applied to a function the definition: That is, the
differential of the independent variable is equal to the increment of that variable.
Therefore, for y  x we write

dy  y' dx  y' x,

and state the definition as follows:

The differential of any function is equal to its derivative multiplied by the

differential of the independent variable.

It follows that all the fundamental formulas for derivative become

differential formulas if we merely multiply through by dx. For instance, the
product formula is
d uv  udv  vdu
Example 1:

y  x  2x
3

dy  3x 2 dx  2dx.
Example 2:
 47

x2 1
y 2
x 1

dy 
  
x 2  1 2 xdx  x 2  1 2 xdx

x2 1
2

4 xdx
dy 

x2 1
2

Example 3:
y 3  2 xy  3
3 y 2 dy  2 xdy  ydx   0
2 ydx
dy  
2x  3y 2
The differential of arc length can be evaluated and the computation of
length of curves will leave for later computation.

Let us consider Fig. 6.12 and denote s as the length of arc of the curve
measured from some initial point Ps to the point Px, y  and for definiteness that
s increases as x increases. For the change s in arc length from P to P ' we
can obtain

s s PP' s x 2  y 2 s  y 

2

     1  
x PP' x PP' x PP'  x 
in which PP ' is the length of the chord from Px, y  to P' x  x, y  y . If the
curve is well behaved near P, it is reasonable to expect that

s
Lim 1
x 0 PP'
which yields

s
2
ds  dy 
 Lim  1  
dx x0 x  dx 
 48

If x decreases as x increases, then

s s  y 
2

 1  
x PP'  x 
2
ds  dy 
  1  
dx  dx 
The above equations furnish the desirable starting point to define the
differential of arc length ds that

ds2  dx2  dy2

Thus ds is the hypotenuse of the right triangle with sides dx and dy .

If the tangent to the curve at P makes an angle  with Ox, then

dx dy
cos  , sin  
ds ds
The formula for differential of arc length in polar coordinates is derived
using the relations x  r cos  , y  r sin  and found that

ds 2
 dr   r d 
2 2 2

We have no position at the moment to use the above definitions, however,

they do significant role in late units of this material.

t
x
Example 1: Find the differential of
2  3t 4
Solution:

x
t
 t 2  3t  4

2  3t 4
 49

dx  t  42  3t   3dt   2  3t 4 dt 

3

9t  2
dx  2  3t  12t  2  3t dt 
3
dt
2  3t 3

Example 2: Find dy in the equation x 3  y 3  3axy  0

Solution:
x 3  y 3  3axy  0
3x 2 dx  3 y 2 dy  3a xdy  ydx   0
y 2
 
 ax dy  ay  x 2 dx 
ay  x 2 x 2  ay
dy  dx   2 dx
 ax  y 2
y  ax
Example 3: Find dy in the equation

3x 2  6 xy  3 y 2  7 x  2 y  1  0.
Solution:
3x 2  6 xy  3 y 2  7 x  2 y  1  0
6 xdx  6xdy  ydx   6 ydy  7dx  2dy  0
6 ydy  6 xdy  2dy  6 ydx  6 xdx  7dx
6 y  6x  7 6x  6 y  7
dy  dx  dx
6 y  6x  2 6x  6 y  2
References:

1. Love and Rainville. Differential and Integral Calculus.

2. Lethold, et al. Calculus with Analytic Geometry.
3. Peterson, Thurman S. Calculus with Analytic Geometry.