Week 11

Topic 3. Natural Logarithm (Stewart, pp. 451 – 459)

Definition 1. The natural logarithmic function is defined as
Z x
1
ln x = dt for x ∈ (0, ∞)
1 t

Illustration 2.

Theorem 3 (Properties of ln).

• The natural logarithmic function is a continuous differentiable function with domain and
range

Dln = (0, ∞) and Rln = R

• We have a special value of ln(1) = 0

d 1 d f ′ (x)
• The derivative of ln x is ln x = , or more generally, ln f (x) =
dx x dx f (x)
• ln is increasing and concave upwards on (0, ∞)
• The limits of ln is [notice, ln has a horizontal asymptote of x = 0]

lim ln x = −∞ and lim ln x = ∞

x→0− x→∞

Prof: From the definition of the natural logarithm, its domain is (0, ∞). Further, according to the
Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (part 1), the natural logarithm is continuous and differentiable,
with derivative x1 .
We have that
d 1 d2 12
ln x = > 0, for x ∈ (0, ∞) and ln x = − <0
dx x dx2 x
Thus, ln is increasing and concave downwards on its domain.
We exclude the proofs of the remaining points (see the textbook).

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Note, we have not yet formally defined real number powers, but the laws here beneath is also valid
for real powers.

Theorem 4 (Logarithmic Laws). For any positive real numbers a and b, and rational number
r,
• ln ab = ln a − ln b • ln (xr ) = r ln x


• ln(ab) = ln a + ln b

Prof:
(a) For a positive real number a, notice that
d a 1 d
ln(ax) = = = ln x
dx ax x dx
Since ln(ax) and ln(x) have the same derivative on (0, ∞), they differ by a constant K,

ln(ax) = ln(x) + K, for all x ∈ (0, ∞)

For x = 1, we have

ln(a) = ln(1) + K = 0 + K = K

Further, if x = b is a positive real number, then

ln(ab) = ln(b) + ln(a)

(b) Notice that

     
1 1 1
0 = ln 1 = ln b · = ln(b) + ln =⇒ ln = − ln(b)
b b b

Consequently
a  
1
ln = ln(a) + ln = ln a − ln b
b b

(c) With the help of mathematical induction, as well as the property ln b−1 = − ln b, we could
deduce that

ln xn = n ln x, for any integer n

k
Suppose r = is a rational number, where k, n ∈ Z. Then
n
 1 n 1 1
ln x = ln x n = n ln x n =⇒ ln x n = n1 ln x

Consequently
k 1
ln xr = ln x n = k ln x n = k
n ln x = r ln x

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Example 5. Consider the function

13 !
x10 + 7
f (x) = ln √
x2 + 4 · (3 − cos x)

(a) Simplify the function f (x) by using logarithmic laws.

(b) Now differentiate the function f

Solution:
(a) With the logarithmic laws, it follows that

13 p 
f (x) = ln x10 + 7 − ln x2 + 4 · (3 − cos x)


1/2 
= 13 ln x10 + 7 − ln x2 + 4 + ln(3 − cos x)
= 13 ln x10 + 7 − 12 ln x2 + 4 − ln(3 − cos x)

(b) With the Chain Rule, it follows that

1 1 1 1
f ′ (x) = 13 · · 10x9 − · 2 · 2x − · sin x
+7x10 2 x +4 3 − cos x
130x9 x sin x
= 10 − 2 −
x + 7 x + 4 3 − cos x

Definition 6. The number e such that ln(e) = 1, is called Euler’s number. Thus number
e is an irrational number with the first few decimals e = 2.71828 . . .

In the second semester, we will see that

1 n
 
lim 1 + =e
n→∞ n

Here is the graph of y = ln x, with everything indicated that we already know:

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 Theorem 7. We have
Z
1
dx = ln |x| + C, for all x ̸= 0
x
Or more generally, for any function f which is not 0,
Z ′
f (x)
= ln f (x) + C
f (x)

Prof: If x is positive, then

d d 1
ln |x| = ln x =
dx dx x
If x is negative, then
d d −1 1
ln |x| = ln(−x) = =
dx dx −x x
Thus, ln |x| is an anti-derivative of x1 .
For the second part, apply substitution with u = f (x).

Remark. Note that ln x is an anti-derivative of x1 for positive x. But with the absolute value, ln |x|
is an anti-derivative of x1 for positive and negative x, and is thus the more general anti-derivative.
Theorem
Z 8. The anti-derivatives of tan and cot is Z
tan(x) dx = − ln | cos x| + C = ln | sec x| + C and cot(x) dx = ln | sin x| + C

Prof:
− sin x
Z Z
tan x dx = − dx = − ln | cos x| + C = ln | sec x| + C [substitution with u = cos x]
cos x
Z Z
cos x
cot x dx = dx = ln | sin x| + C [substitution with u = sin x]
sin x

Example 9. Calculate the following integrals

Z 4
(ln x)2
Z
x
(a) dx (b) dx
3x2 + 4 1 x

Solution:
(a) Set u = 3x2 + 4
du 1
= 6x =⇒ 6 du = x dx
dx
Thus Z Z
x 1 1
2
dx = du = 16 ln |u| + C = 1
6 ln 3x2 + 4 + C
3x + 4 6 u

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 (b) Set u = ln x
du 1 1
= =⇒ du = dx
dx x x
x = 1 =⇒ u = ln 1 = 0; x = 4 =⇒ u = ln 4
Thus
4 ln 4
(ln x)2
Z Z
3 ln 4
u2 du = = 13 (ln 4)3
1 
dx = 3u 0
1 x 0

Definition 10. Logarithmic differentiation is a differentiation method to determine the

derivative of a function y = f (x). This method is as follows.


1. Take ln on both sides to get ln y = ln f (x) .
2. Apply the logarithmic laws to simplify the expression ln f (x).
dy
3. Apply implicit differentiation, and solve for dx .

Logarithmic differentiation is particularly very suited for functions which contains many products,
quotients and powers.
We illustrate the technique in the following example.
Example 11. Determine the derivative using logarithmic differentiation of

10
x2 + 4
y=
(4 − sin x) tan2 x

Solution: Notice that y > 0 for all x in the domain. Take logarithms on both sides and simplify:

10
x2 + 4
ln y = ln
(4 − sin x) tan2 x

10
= ln x2 + 4 − ln(4 − sin x) − ln tan2 x

= 10 ln x2 + 4 − ln(4 − sin x) − 2 ln tan x

Apply implicit differentiation:

1 dy 2x − cos x sec2
· = 10 · 2 − −2·
y dx x + 4 4 − sin x tan x
2 sec2 x
 
dy 20x cos x
=⇒ =y + −
dx x2 + 4 4 − sin x tan x
2

10
2 sec2 x
 
x +4 20x cos x
= · + −
(4 − sin x) tan2 x x2 + 4 4 − sin x tan x