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Derivatives - Lecture 1

1) The document discusses limits, derivatives, and rates of change, explaining that finding the tangent line to a curve or the velocity of an object both involve finding the same type of limit, called a derivative. 2) It provides examples of finding the equation of a tangent line to a parabola and taking the derivative of a function. 3) The derivative of a function f(x) is defined as a new function f'(x), where f'(x) represents the slope of the tangent line to the graph of f(x) at the point (x, f(x)).

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37 views30 pages

Derivatives - Lecture 1

1) The document discusses limits, derivatives, and rates of change, explaining that finding the tangent line to a curve or the velocity of an object both involve finding the same type of limit, called a derivative. 2) It provides examples of finding the equation of a tangent line to a parabola and taking the derivative of a function. 3) The derivative of a function f(x) is defined as a new function f'(x), where f'(x) represents the slope of the tangent line to the graph of f(x) at the point (x, f(x)).

Uploaded by

simlindiletrinity530
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Limits and Derivatives

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Compiled by R Durandt


Quote for the week …

“Excellence is not a
singular act but a
habit. You are what
you do repeatedly.”
By S O’Neal
2
Derivatives and Rates of Change

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


3
Derivatives and Rates of Change
The problem of finding the tangent line to a
curve and the problem of finding the velocity
of an object both involve finding the same
type of limit.

This special type of limit is called a


DERIVATIVE and we will see that it can be
interpreted as a rate of change in any of
the sciences or engineering.
4
Tangents

5
Tangents
If mPQ approaches a number m, then we define the
tangent t to be the line through P with slope m.
We say that the tangent line is the limiting position
of the secant line PQ as Q approaches P.

6
Tangents

7
Example 1
Find an equation of the tangent line to the
parabola y = x2 at the point P(1, 1)

Solution:
Here we have a = 1 and f(x) = x2, so the slope is

8
Example 1 – Solution

=1+1

=2

Using the point-slope form of the equation of a


line, we find that an equation of the tangent line at
(1, 1) is
y – 1 = 2(x – 1) or y = 2x – 1
9
Tangents

We sometimes refer to the


slope of the tangent line to
a curve at a point as the
slope of the curve at the
point.
10
Tangents
The graphs illustrate this procedure for the curve
y = x2

Zooming in toward the point (1, 1) on


the parabola y = x2

11
Tangents

The more we zoom in, the more the


parabola looks like a line.

In other words, the curve becomes


almost indistinguishable from its
tangent line.
12
Tangents
If h = x – a, then x = a + h and so the slope of the
secant line PQ is

13
Tangents
Notice that as x approaches a, h
approaches 0 (because h = x – a) and so
the expression for the slope of the tangent
line in Definition 1 becomes

14
Derivatives

15
Derivatives

If we write x = a + h, then we have h = x – a and h


approaches 0 if and only if x approaches a.
Therefore an equivalent way of stating the
definition of the derivative, as we saw in finding
tangent lines, is

16
Example 2
Find the derivative of the function
f (x) = x2 – 8x + 9 at the number a.

Solution:

17
Example 2 – Solution

18
Derivatives
We defined the tangent line to the curve y = f (x) at
the point P (a, f (a)) to be the line that passes
through P and has slope m.

Since, this is the same as the derivative f (a), we


can now say the following.

19
Derivatives
If we use the point-slope form of the
equation of a line, we can write an equation
of the tangent line to the curve
y = f (x) at the point (a, f (a)):

y – f (a) = f (a)(x – a)

20
The Derivative as a Function

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.


The Derivative as a Function
We have considered the derivative of a function f
at a fixed number a:

Here we change our point of view and let the number a


vary. If we replace a in Equation 1 by a variable x, we
obtain

22
The Derivative as a Function
Given any number x for which this limit exists,
we assign to x the number f ′(x).
So we can regard f ′ as a new function,
called the derivative of f .

We know that the value of f ′ at x, f ′(x),


can be interpreted geometrically as the slope
of the tangent line to the graph
of f at the point (x, f (x)).
23
The Derivative as a Function
The function f ′ is called the derivative of f
because it has been “derived” from f by
the limiting operation in Equation 2.

The domain of f ′ is the set {x | f ′(x) exists}


and may be smaller than the domain of f .

24
Example 1
The graph of a function f is given. Use it to sketch the
graph of the derivative f ′.

25
Example 1 – Solution
We can estimate the value of the derivative at any
value of x by drawing the tangent at the point
(x, f (x)) and estimating its slope. For example, for
x = 5 we draw the tangent at P and estimate its
slope to be about , so f ′(5) ≈ 1.5.

26
Example 1 – Solution
This allows us to plot the point P ′(5, 1.5) on the
graph of f ′ directly beneath P. Repeating this
procedure at several points, we get the graph shown
below.

27
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

Notice that the tangents at A, B, and C are


horizontal, so the derivative is 0 there and the
graph of f ′ crosses the x-axis at the points A′, B′,
and C′, directly beneath A, B, and C.

Between A and B the tangents have positive slope,


so f ′(x) is positive there. But between B and C the
tangents have negative slope, so f ′(x) is negative
there.
28
How Can a Function Fail to Be
Differentiable?

29
How Can a Function Fail to Be Differentiable?

The graphs illustrate the three possibilities that we


have discussed.

Three ways for f not to


be differentiable at a
30

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