§2.

1—Tangent Line Problem

Example 1:
(a) Sketch the function f  x   3x  x 2 then discuss what is happening to the graph at x  1 ? How fast is
the graph changing at this point? What is the slope at this point? (b) Draw a secant line between the
points 1, f 1  and 1  h, f 1  h   , then compute its slope. How can we use this secant line to find the
slope of the tangent line at x  1 ??

What do you notice happens to the secant line as h, the distance between the two x-values goes to zero? Do
you see the limiting process here?

Example 2:
For f  x   3x  x 2 , using a similar method used above, find a general formula for finding the slope of the
tangent line to the graph of f at any point  x, f  x   .

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The slope function found above is actually called the derivative function of f  x  . It can be used to find
the slope of the tangent line to a graph at a point. A function that has a derivative is said to be
differentiable.

The Limit Definition of the Derivative of a Function

If f  x  is a differentiable function, its derivative function, denoted f   x  and read “f prime of x,” is
defined to be
f  x  h  f  x
f   x   lim
h0 h

This gives you a variable function that can be used and reused for different x-values.

Example 3:
(a) Find the derivative function of f ( x)  2 x 2  16 x  35 using the limit definition of the derivative, then
(b) find the slope of the tangent line to f  x  at x  1 , x  0 , and x  6 . What can you say about the
function at these points? (c) Find the equation of the tangent line at x  1 . (d) How can you use the
derivative to find the x-coordinate of the vertex? Find this coordinate.

It’s important to formally lay out the meanings and distinctions between secant lines and tangent lines.

Using 2 points,  a, f  a   and  b, f  b   Using 1 point  c, f  c  

The following are equivalent: The following are equivalent:
 Slope of the secant line  Slope of the tangent line
f b   f  a  f c  h  f c
  lim
ba h 0 h
 Average rate of change on the interval  a, b  f c

 Derivative at x  c
 Instantaneous rate of change at x  c

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Example 4:
t
For g (t )  , (a) Use the definition of the derivative as a limit to find the derivative function g (t ) , then
t 1
(b) find the equation of the normal line to g (t ) at t  1 .

As it turns out, the solution to the tangent line problem (a Leibnizian perspective) is also the answer to the
instantaneous velocity (a Newtonian perspective). Here’s why:

The rate of change of position is velocity (average or instantaneous). The rate of change of velocity is
acceleration (average or instantaneous). If we let s  t  be a position function, v  t  be a velocity function,
and a  t  be an acceleration function, then

s   t   v   t   a  t 

Where s  t  is called the second derivative of s  t  and read as “s double prime of t.”

Example 5:
A ball is thrown into the air so that its height h  t  feet above ground at t seconds is given by
h  t   16t 2  20t  8 . (a) During the first second, what is the ball’s average velocity? At t  1 seconds,
what is the ball’s (b) height (c) velocity, and (d) acceleration?

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Modified form of the limit definition of the derivative

The numeric value of the derivative of a function f  x  at a point  c, f  c   is given as

f c  h  f c
f   c   lim
h 0 h

*Notice this version gives a numeric value, but the limit is still a function of h.

Example 6:
If f  x   x  5 , use the modified form definition of the derivative to find f   21 .

Alternate form definition of the derivative

The numeric value of the derivative of a function f  x  at a point  c, f  c   is ALSO given as

f ( x)  f  c 
f   c   lim
x c xc

*Notice this version ALSO gives a numeric value, but now the limit is a function of x. This is important.

Example 7:
If f  x   x  5 , use the alternate form definition of the derivative to find f   21 .

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Differentiability at a point x  c .

f ( x)  f  c  f ( x)  f  c 
A function f  x  is differentiable at x  c if and only if lim  L  lim ,
x c  xc x c  xc
where L is a finite value.

*This basically says that to be differentiable at a point  c, f  c   , the graph must be continuous (connected)
but must connect in a way that the slopes merge into each other smoothly.

Example 8:
Discuss the differentiability of f  x   x  2 at x  2

Example 9:
Discuss the differentiability of f  x   3 x at x  0

Example 10:
Discuss the differentiability of f  x   x 2 / 3 at x  0

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Very Important Theorem:

If f is differentiable at x  c , then f is continuous at x  c .

DC

Contrapositive of Very Important Theorem:

If f is NOT continuous x  c , then f is NOT differentiable at x  c .

C   D

We have seen some examples of functions that were not differentiable at particular points.

Example 11:
Summarize, with examples, specific cases in which a function will fail to be differentiable.

It take MORE than just the slopes to be approaching the same value on either side of a particular x-value
for a function to be differentiable there. One must ALWAYS be careful with piecewise functions.

Example 12:
 x2 , x 1
For the piecewise function f  x    , find a piecewise derivative function, f   x  , using the
 2 x  1, x  1
formal limit definition of the derivative, then evaluate the following: (a) lim f   x  
x 1
and (b) lim f   x   . What can you say about the differentiability of f  x  at x  1 based on your
x 1
results? (c) Now use the alternate form definition of the derivative from each side of x  1 . What can you
now conclude about the differentiability of f  x  at x  1 ?

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Example 13:
 x2 , x 1
Discuss the differentiability of f  x    at x  1 .
2 x  1, x  1

There is one other form of the definition of the derivative worth mentioning.

Symmetric form definition of the derivative

The numeric value of the derivative of a function f  x  at a point  c, f  c   is ALSO given as

f (c  h )  f  c  h 
f   c   lim
h 0 2h

Example 14:
If f  x   x , find f   0  using your calculator. Zoom in several times at the origin. What do you notice?
Based on your result from Example 8, what can you say about your calculator?

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