Edexcel A level Maths Further differentiation

Section 3: Implicit differentiation

Notes and Examples

These notes contain subsections on

 Differentiating functions of y with respect to x
 Differentiating implicit functions
 Differentiating products of x and y
 Logarithmic differentiation

Differentiating functions of y with respect to x

Suppose that y is a function of x, say x 2 . You can differentiate y to get 2x; but
what about differentiating y 2 , or sin y or ln y ? You could convert them to
functions of x, i.e. x4 , sin x2 or ln x2 ; but can you find the derivative of these
functions without converting into functions of x?

For example, suppose y  x2 as above and you want to find the derivative of
du
y² with respect to x. Let u  y 2 . You want to find
dx
du
u  y2   2y
dy
dy
y  x2   2x .
dx
Using the chain rule:
du du dy
 
dx dy dx
dy
 2y
dx
 2x  2x
2

 4 x3 (which is indeed the derivative of x4)

The other functions of y can be differentiated in the same way:

du
To differentiate sin y with respect to x, let u  sin y . You want to find .
dx
du
u  sin y   cos y
dy
dy
y  x2   2x
dx

1 of 5 14/07/17 © MEI
integralmaths.org
 Edexcel A level Further diff 3 Notes and Examples

Using the chain rule:

du du dy
 
dx dy dx
dy
 cos y
dx
 2 x cos y

du
To differentiate ln y with respect to x, let u  ln y . You want to find .
dx
du 1
u  ln y  
dy y
dy
y  x2   2x
dx

Using the chain rule:

du du dy
 
dx dy dx
1 dy

y dx
1
 2  2x
x
2

x

This idea can be generalised:

If y is a function of x, then d [f ( y )]  df  dy .
dx dy dx

Differentiating implicit functions

An implicit function is an equation between two variables, say x and y, in
which y is not given explicitly as a function of x. The equation of a circle is an
example of an implicit function.

For example, x 2  y 2  25 is the equation of a circle, centre O and radius 5.

You can differentiate an implicit function like this by differentiating each side of
the equation with respect to x:

x 2  y 2  25
d 2 dy
 d 2 d d
[ x ]  [ y 2 ]  [25] [y ]  2y , as before.
dx dx dx dx dx
dy
 2x  2 y  0
dx

2 of 5 14/07/17 © MEI
integralmaths.org
 Edexcel A level Further diff 3 Notes and Examples

dy
You can now find in terms of x and y by rearranging this equation:
dx
dy
2x  2 y 0
dx
dy
 2y  2 x
dx
dy 2x x
  
dx 2y y

This result enables you, for example, to find the gradient at the point (3, 4) of
the circle. Here, x = 3 and y = 4, so dy   x   3 .
dx y 4

Example 1
Show that the curve y + y3 = 2sin x has a turning point at the point  2 ,1 .
Solution
y  y 3  2sin x
Differentiating implicitly gives:
d d
[ y  y 3 ]  [2sin x]
dx dx
dy dy
  3y2  2cos x ,
dx dx
dy
 (1  3 y 2 )  2 cos x
dx
dy 2 cos x
 
dx 1  3 y 2
At the point  2 ,1 x = 2 and y = 1
dy 2cos 2
  0
dx 1 3
So  2 ,1 is a turning point.

Differentiating products of x and y

What is the derivative of xy 2 with respect to x?

You can use the product rule to do this.
du dv dy
u x  1 and v  y 2   2y .
dx dx dx
So d d v d u
( xy 2 )  u  v
dx dx dx
dy
 2 xy  y2
dx

3 of 5 14/07/17 © MEI
integralmaths.org
 Edexcel A level Further diff 3 Notes and Examples

Example 2
dy
Given that y2 + 3xy + x3 = 25, find in terms of x and y.
dx

Solution
y 2  3xy  x3  25 The product rule is used here to
differentiate 3xy, with u = 3x and v = y.
Differentiating implicitly gives: It is not necessary to write out all the
d 2 d details of the product rule if you don’t
[ y  3xy  x3 ]  [25] feel that you need to.
dx dx
dy dy
 2 y  3x  3 y  3x 2  0
dx dx
dy
 (2 y  3x)  3 y  3x 2
dx
dy (3 y  3 x 2 )
 
dx 2 y  3x

Logarithmic differentiation
The technique of implicit differentiation can be used to simplify differentiating
complicated product and quotient functions, as in the following example.

Example 3
(1  x )(1  2 x )3
Find the derivative of y 
1  x2

Solution
(1  x)(1  2 x)3
y
1  x2

Take logarithms of each side:

 (1  x)(1  2 x)3 
ln y  ln  
 1  x2 
 ln(1  x)  ln(1  2 x)3  ln 1  x 2
1
 ln(1  x)  3ln(1  2 x)  ln(1  x 2 )
2

Now differentiate implicitly:

1 dy 1 3 1 2x
   (2) 
y dx x  1 1  2 x 2 (1  x 2 )

4 of 5 14/07/17 © MEI
integralmaths.org
 Edexcel A level Further diff 3 Notes and Examples

dy  1 6 x 
  y   2 
dx  x  1 1  2 x (1  x ) 
(1  x)(1  2 x)3 1 6 x
 (   )
1  x2 x  1 1  2 x (1  x 2 )

This is quite a fearsome looking expression! But try

differentiating y directly and you will appreciate that
the logarithmic differentiation is considerably easier!

5 of 5 14/07/17 © MEI
integralmaths.org