Week 8

BASIC CALCULUS

Lesson: IMPLICIT DIFFERENTIATION

LEARNING COMPETENCY:
The learner…
a. illustrates implicit differentiation.

In your previous lesson, you have learned how to differentiate using the Chain Rule. In
this lesson, you will be able to apply what you have learned in your previous lesson. You
will learn how to find derivative of an equation using implicit differentiation. Proceed to
the activity for your exploration and review.

ACTIVITY 1: GETTING READY

Differentiate the following functions using the Chain Rule.

1. 𝒚 = (𝟒𝒙 + 𝟑)𝟐 2. 𝒚 = (𝟔𝒙 − 𝟒)𝟑

3. 𝒚 = (𝟓𝒙𝟐 − 𝟒𝒙 + 𝟐)𝟐 4. 𝒚 = (𝟓𝒙 − 𝟑)𝟐

5. 𝒚 = (𝟓 − 𝟑𝒙)𝟑 6. 𝒚 = (𝟒𝒙 − 𝟐)𝟑

 END OF

In your first activity, you differentiate functions using the Chain Rule. Let us take
a look on the next lesson.

In this section, you will know about implicit differentiation. Provided below are the
discussions, activities, and even online sites you can understand more the topic.

WHAT IS IMPLICIT DIFFERENTIATION?

We have seen that functions are not always given in the form y = f(x) but in a more complicated
form that makes it difficult or impossible to express y explicitly in terms of x. Such functions are
called implicit functions, and y is said to be defined implicitly. In this lesson, we explain how
these can be differentiated using a method called implicit differentiation.

Differentiating quantities involving only the variable x with respect to x is not a problem; for
instance, the derivative of x is just 1. But if a function y is defined implicitly, then we need to apply
the Chain Rule in getting its derivative. So, while the derivative of 𝑥 2 is 2x, the derivative of 𝑦 2 is

𝑑𝑦
2y 𝑑𝑥 .

More generally, if we have the expression f(y), where y is a function of x, then

𝑑 𝑑 𝑑𝑦
(𝑓 (𝑦) = 𝑑𝑦 (𝑓(𝑦) ∗ .
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

In order to master implicit differentiation, students need to review and master the application of
the Chain Rule.

Consider the two problems below:

1. Find the equation of the line tangent to the parabola 𝑦 = 𝑥 2 − 4𝑥 + 2 at point (3, -1).
2. Find the equation of the line tangent to the circle 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 100 at point (6,8).

In the first problem, the given equation is explicitly defined. The dependent variable y is expressed
in terms of the independent variable x. the equation is of the form 𝑦 = 𝑓 (𝑥 ) 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓 (𝑥 ) = 𝑥 2 −
4𝑥 + 2.

To solve the problem, the first thing to do is to find the first derivative.
𝑦 = 𝑥 2 − 4𝑥 + 2
𝑑𝑦
= 2𝑥 − 4
𝑑𝑥

To find the slope, replace x by the abscissa of the given point of tangency

𝑑𝑦
= 2(3) − 4
𝑑𝑥
= 6-4
=2
 To find the equation of the tangent line, use the point-slope formula,
𝑦 − 𝑦1 = 𝑚(𝑥 − 𝑥1 )
𝑦 − (−1) = 2(𝑥 − 3)
y + 1 = 2x – 6
y = 2x -7

In the second problem, the given equation is not explicitly defined. The dependent variable
y is not expressed in terms of the independent variable x. Before solving for the first derivative,
write it first in the form y = f(x).

𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 100
𝑦 2 = 100 − 𝑥 2
𝑦 = √100 − 𝑥 2
1
𝑦 = (100 − 𝑥 2 )2
1
𝑑𝑦 1
= 2 (100 − 𝑥 2 )2 (−2𝑥)
𝑑𝑥
−𝑥
= 1
(100−𝑥 2)1
−𝑥
=
√100−𝑥 2

To find the slope, replace x by the abscissa of the point of tangency.

−𝑥
𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 = √100−𝑥2

−6
= √100−62
−6
=
√100−36
−6
=
√64
−6 −3
= 8 or 4

To find the equation of the line tangent to the circle at (6,8), use the point-slope formula.
𝑦 − 𝑦1 = 𝑚(𝑥 − 𝑥1 )
−3
𝑦−8= (𝑥 − 6)
4

4𝑦 − 32 = −3(𝑥 − 6)
4𝑦 − 32 = −3𝑥 + 18
4𝑦 = −3𝑥 + 50
−3𝑥 25
𝑦= +
4 2

There is another method in solving for the first derivative in the second problem. It is called implicit
differentiation. In this method, there is no need to write the equation in the form y = f(x). Here are
the steps.

1. Differentiate both sides with respect to x.

𝒅𝒚
2. Isolate all 𝒅𝒙 terms on the left side
 𝒙𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐 = 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑑 𝑑𝑦 2 𝑑(100)
𝑥2 + =
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

𝑑𝑦
2𝑥 + 2𝑦 =0
𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑦
2𝑦 = −2𝑥
𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑦 −2𝑥
=
𝑑𝑥 2𝑦
𝑑𝑦 −𝑥
=
𝑑𝑥 𝑦
−𝑥
Slope = 𝑦
−𝟔 −𝟑
= or
𝟖 𝟒

Example 1 Differentiate 4𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 16.

SOLUTION:
4𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 16
𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
(4𝑥 2 ) + (𝑦 2 ) = (16)
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑦
8𝑥 + 2𝑦 𝑑𝑥 = 0
𝑑𝑦
2𝑦 𝑑𝑥 = −8𝑥
𝑑𝑦 −8𝑥
=
𝑑𝑥 2𝑦
𝑑𝑦 −4𝑥
=
𝑑𝑥 𝑦

EXAMPLE 2 Differentiate 𝑦 − 𝑥 2 = −7
SOLUTION:
𝑦 − 𝑥 2 = −7
𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
(𝑦 ) − (𝑥 2 ) = (−7)
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑦
1 𝑑𝑥 − 2𝑥 = 0
𝑑𝑦
= 2𝑥
𝑑𝑥

EXAMPLE 3 Differentiate 𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 𝑦 2 = 24
SOLUTION:
𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 𝑦 2 = 24
𝑑 𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
(𝑥 2 ) − (2𝑥 ) + (𝑦 2 ) = (24)
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑦
2𝑥 − 2 + 2𝑦 𝑑𝑥 = 0
 𝑑𝑦
2𝑦 𝑑𝑥 = −2𝑥 + 2
𝑑𝑦 −2𝑥 2
= + 2𝑦
𝑑𝑥 2𝑦
𝑑𝑦 −𝑥 1
= +𝑦
𝑑𝑥 𝑦
𝑑𝑦 1−𝑥
=
𝑑𝑥 𝑦

EXAMPLE 4 Differentiate 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 − 8𝑥 + 2𝑦 = 16.

SOLUTION:
𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 − 8𝑥 + 2𝑦 = 16
𝑑 𝑑 𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
(𝑥 2 ) + (𝑦 2 ) − (8𝑥 ) + (2𝑦) = (16)
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦
2𝑥 + 2𝑦 𝑑𝑥 − 8 + 2 𝑑𝑥 = 0
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦
2𝑦 𝑑𝑥 + 2 𝑑𝑥 = −2𝑥 + 8
𝑑𝑦
(2𝑦 + 2) = −2𝑥 + 8
𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑦 −2𝑥+8
=
𝑑𝑥 2𝑦+2
𝑑𝑦 −2(𝑥−4)
=
𝑑𝑥 2(𝑦+1)
𝒅𝒚 −(𝒙−𝟒) 𝒙−𝟒 −𝒙+𝟒
= 𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒓
𝒅𝒙 𝒚+𝟏 𝒚+𝟏 𝒚+𝟏

ACTIVITY 2: COMPREHENSION CHECK

Try to differentiate the following without solving for y in terms of x.
1. 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 81 2. 5𝑥 − 3𝑦 = 15

3. 3𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 9 4. 𝑦 − 𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 = 0
 ACTIVITY 3: CONSULTING YOUR BOOK

For a thorough explanation about the lesson, refer to your book, BASIC CALCULUS,
pages 129-133.

GOING ONLINE

Check the hyperlinks below to open the websites.

 https://www.mathsisfun.com/calculus/implicit-differentiation.html
 https://sites.und.edu/timothy.prescott/apex/web/apex.Ch2.S6.html
 https://www.khanacademy.org/math/ap-calculus-ab/ab-differentiation-2-
new/ab-3-2/v/implicit-differentiation-1
 https://youtu.be/oaDx5WXj99s
If you still did not understand the topic yet, the sites and videos will help you understand
well about implicit differentiation.

END OF

The previous activities taught you how to differentiate equations without solving for y
in terms of x. You may now proceed to the next part.

Your goal in this section is to take a closer look at some aspects of the topic. From
the videos and lectures presented, let us see if you can use your knowledge on implicit
differentiation in solving problems.

ACTIVITY 4
𝑑𝑦
Find of each equation using implicit differentiation. Show your complete
𝑑𝑥

solution.
1. 4𝑥 + 3𝑦 = 7 2. 𝑥 2 − 𝑦 2 = 9 3. 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 + 4𝑦 = 0

4. 3𝑥 2 − 𝑦 3 − 3𝑥𝑦 = 0 5. 𝑦 4 − 𝑦 2 𝑥 + 𝑥 2 = 0
 END OF

In this section, the discussion was about solving real-life problems involving functions.
Now that you have a deeper understanding of the topic, you are ready to do the tasks in
the next section.

Your goal in this section is to apply your learning in our topic. You will be given a task
which will demonstrate your understanding.

TAKE THE CHALLENGE!

Use implicit differentiation to find the slope of the tangent line to the given curve at
the specified point.
2 2
1. 𝑥 3 𝑦 + 𝑦 3 𝑥 = 10; (1,2) 2. 𝑥𝑦 = 8; (2,4) 3. 𝑥 3 − 𝑦 3 − 𝑦 = 1; (1, −1)

END OF

You have just completed the lesson. You can now proceed solving logarithmic,
trigonometric functions and inverse trigonometric functions using implicit
differentiation.