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Implicit Differentiation

In this PDF we are learning how to find the derivative of y in terms of x when this is defined implicitly.

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Charalampidis Dimitris
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© © All Rights Reserved
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148 views3 pages

Implicit Differentiation

In this PDF we are learning how to find the derivative of y in terms of x when this is defined implicitly.

Uploaded by

Charalampidis Dimitris
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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com YouTube: haraldim1

Implicit Differentiation
We already know how to find the derivative of a function y=f(x), where y can be defined
explicitly in terms of x.
No matter how complicated this relation seems to be, all we have to do in such cases is follow
the differentiation rules and be careful with the needed operations.
What happens though when the two variables x and y are mixed together in a relation that
does not allow us to isolate y and therefore solve it for x? How can we differentiate y in terms
of x?

dy
In this case, we say that y is defined implicitly in terms of x and in order to find we need to
dx
follow a process that is called implicit differentiation.
To apply implicit differentiation, one must follow the steps below:
Step 1: Starting with the given equation, we differentiate both sides with respect to x.
During this step, we must be extremely cautious.
All terms that contain only x’s can be differentiated as we would normally do, while
terms that contain y’s must be differentiated by applying the chain rule since we are
assuming that y is a function of x.
For example:

( x ) = 2 x
2
( y ) = 2 y  y = 2 y dy
2

dx

( xy ) = xy + xy = y + x
dy
dx
dy
Step 2: Bring all the terms that contain on one side of the equation.
dx
dy
Step 3: Factorize the side that contains using it as a common factor.
dx
dy
Step 4: Solve for by dividing .
dx
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Example 2

dy
Find , given that x 2 + y 2 = xy .
dx
Solution

(x + y 2 ) = ( xy )
dy dy
2
 2 x + 2 yy = xy + xy  2x + 2 y = y+x
dx dx
dy dy dy dy y − 2 x
2y − x = y − 2x  ( 2 y − x ) = y − 2x  =
dx dx dx dx 2 y − x

Example 3 (finding the equation of a tangent)

Find the equation of the tangent to the curve x 2 + xy + y 2 = 13 at the point (1,3) . .

Solution

We already know that the equation of the tangent at a given point x0 can be given by the
equation: y − f ( x0 ) = f  ( x0 )( x − x0 ) .

In our case, x0 = 1, f ( x0 ) = f (1) = 3 and we are only missing of f  ( x0 ) = f  (1)

dy
To find that, we need first to find the derivative under implicit differentiation and then
dx
substitute the given point’s values on that.
Thus:

(x 2
+ xy + y 2 ) = (13)  2 x + xy + xy + 2 yy = 0
dy dy dy
2x + y + x + 2y = 0  ( x + 2 y ) = −2 x − y
dx dx dx
dy −2 x − y
=
dx x + 2y
I will now substitute the coordinates of the given point on this relation to find the value of the
derivative I need.

dy −2 x − y −2 1 − 3 −5
Hence, for x=1, y=3, = = =
dx x + 2y 1+ 2 3 7
I am now ready to substitute everything I need to calculate the equation I want.
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Finally:

y − f ( x0 ) = f  ( x0 )( x − x0 )
5
y −3= − ( x − 1)
7
5 5
y −3= − x+
7 7
5 5
y = − x+ +3
7 7
5 26
y =− x+
7 7
Example 4 (higher derivatives)

Consider the circle described by the relation x 2 + y 2 = 1 . Use implicit differentiation to find
d2y
.
dx 2
Solution

dy
We will begin by applying implicit differentiation to find .
dx

(x+ y 2 ) = (1)  2 x + 2 yy = 0  2 x + 2 y


dy
2
=0
dx
dy dy −2 x − x
 2y = −2 x  = =
dx dx 2 y y

d2y dy
2
is basically the derivative of , hence all we need to do is take the relation we found
dx dx
earlier for that and
Once again apply implicit differentiation:

dy − y + x − x − y − x
2

 − y + x
d y  − x  (− x) y − (− x) y
2
dx y y − y 2 − x2
=  = = = = =
dx 2  y  y2 y2 y2 y2 y3

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