CALCULUS I - AY2023-24

Chapter 2: Derivatives

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Outline

1 Derivatives of Functions

2 Differentiation Rules

3 The Chain Rule

4 Implicit Differentiation

5 Related Rates

6 Linear Approximations

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Summary

Derivative is one of the key ideas in calculus, which is used to study

many problems, not only in mathematics, but also in say
- science: determining the rate of flow of a liquid into a container, ...
- economics: finding the number of items a manufacturing company
should produce to maximize its profits, ...
- medicine: calculating the amount of blood the heart pumps, ...

The main topics of this chapter are

The derivative as a function
The relationship between continuity and differentiability
Higher derivatives

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• Derivatives and rates of change

Do you remember the main motivation for introducing limits?

We discovered a need of limits when solving tangent problems.

Definition
Let D ⊂ R and let f : D → R be a function. We define the tangent
(or tangent line) to the curve y = f (x) (or graph of f (x)) at the
point a to be the line going through the point (a, f (a)) with slope

f (x) − f (a)
m = lim (if the limit exists).
x→a x −a

If this limit does not exist then we say that the graph does not have
a tangent at that point.

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Instead of working with the position x of the second point (left figure),
we could equally well work with the displacement h from a to that point
(right figure). Then the slope of the tangent line becomes

f (a + h) − f (a)
m = lim .
h→0 h

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• Limit and the velocity of an object

Example
Suppose that a ball is dropped from the upper observation deck of the
“CN Tower” (Canadian National Tower, Toronto) 450 m above the
ground. Find the velocity of the ball after say 5 seconds.

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Definition
Suppose that a particle’s trajectory (in one dimension) is described by
a function s : R → R. The instantaneous velocity of the particle at time
t is defined by
s(t + τ ) − s(t)
lim .
τ →0 τ

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• Derivative of a function

f (a + h) − f (a)
Since this type of limit lim actually occurs widely and
h→0 h
arises whenever we calculate a rate of change in any of the sciences
or engineering, it is given a special name and notation.

Definition. The derivative of a function f at a point a, denoted by

f 0 (a), is
f (a + h) − f (a)
f 0 (a) = lim ,
h→0 h
provided this limit exists.

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An equivalent way of stating the definition of the derivative, as we saw
in finding tangent lines, is

f (x) − f (a)
f 0 (a) = lim .
x→a x −a

We can now say that the tangent line to y = f (x) at (a, f (a)) is the line
through (a, f (a)) whose slope is equal to f 0 (a), the derivative of f at a.

Suppose y is a quantity that depends on another quantity x, i.e. y is a

function of x and we write y = f (x). Then we can have another
interpretation of f 0 (a): the derivative f 0 (a) is the instantaneous rate of
change of y = f (x) with respect to x when x = a.

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• The derivative as a function

We have considered the derivative of a function f at a fixed number a

f (a + h) − f (a)
f 0 (a) = lim .
h→0 h

Now we investigate the derivative as a function derived from f by

considering the limit at each point x in the domain of f .

Definition
The derivative of a function f (x) (w.r.t. the variable x) is defined by the
following rule:

f (x + h) − f (x)
f 0 (x) = lim , if this limit exists at x.
h→0 h

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Note. In general, the domain of f 0 (x), which is the set {x : f 0 (x) exists},
may be smaller than the domain of f .

Other notations for the derivative. Some common alternative notations

for the derivative of a function y = f (x) are as follows:

dy df d
f 0 (x) = y 0 = = = f (x).
dx dx dx
d
Here the symbol are called differentiation operators because they
dx
indicate the operation of differentiation, which is the process of
calculating a derivative.

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 dy
Note. The symbol , which was introduced by Leibniz, should not be
dx
regarded as a ratio (for the time being); it is simply a synonym for f 0 (x).
We can rewrite the definition of derivative in Leibniz notation in the
form
dy ∆y f (x2 ) − f (x1 )
= lim = lim .
dx ∆x→0 ∆x x2 →x1 x2 − x1
The notation
dy
dx x=a
0
is a synonym for f (a). The vertical bar means “evaluate at”.

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Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz (sometimes spelled Leibnitz), 1646 -
1716, was a prominent German mathematician and philosopher.
His ideas of differential and integral calculus (independently of
Isaac Newton’s developments) were most notable achievement.
He also refined the binary number system, which is the foundation
of all digital computers.

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• Differentiability

Definition
A function f (x) is differentiable at a point a if f 0 (a) exists. It is
differentiable on an open interval (finite or infinite) (a, b), or (a, ∞),
or (−∞, a), or (−∞, ∞), if it is differentiable at every point of the
interval.
It is differentiable on a closed interval [a, b] if it is differentiable on
the interior interval (a, b) and if the one-side limits at a

f (a + h) − f (a) f (a + h) − f (a)
lim+ , lim
h→0 h h→0− h
exist.

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Both continuity and differentiability are desirable properties for a
function to have. The following result shows how these properties are
related.

Theorem
If f (x) is differentiable at a, then f is continuous at a.

Note. The inverse implication of the theorem above is false. That is,
there are functions that are continuous but not differentiable.

Example
Determine the derivative of f (x) = |x|. State the domain of f 0

−1, if x < 0
Solution. We have f 0 (x) = is not differentiable at x = 0.
1, if x > 0

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Question. When does a function not have a derivative at a point?

Answer. There are mainly 3 ways that a function can fail to be

differentiable at some point a.

Possibility 1. f is not continuous at a.

It is clear, as f cannot be differentiable at a if it is not continuous at a.

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 Possibility 2. f has a corner at a.
This means that
f (x + a) − f (a) f (x + a) − f (a)
lim and lim+
h→0− h h→0 h
both exist, but they are different.

Look back at the previous example f (x) = |x| at x = 0

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 Possibility 3. f has a vertical tangent at a.
This means that
f (a + h) − f (a)
lim = ∞ or − ∞,
h→0 h
indicating that the tangent lines become steeper and steeper as x → a.

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Definition
The normal line to a curve C at a point P is the line through P that is
perpendicular to the tangent line at P.

The curve and its tangent and normal lines are graphed in the figure
below.

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• Higher derivatives

We know that if f is a differentiable function, then its derivative f 0 is

also a function. So f 0 may have a derivative of its own, denoted by
(f 0 )0 = f 00 .
This new function f 00 is called the second derivative of f (because it is
the derivative of the derivative of f ).

Using Leibniz notation, we write the second derivative of y = f (x) as

d 2y
 
d dy
= .
dx dx dx 2

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 The third derivative f 000 is the derivative of the second derivative:
f 000 = (f 00 )0 . Likewise, it can be interpreted as the slope of the curve
y = f 00 (x) or as the rate of change of f 00 (x).
If y = f (x), then alternative notations for the third derivative are

d d 2y d 3y
 
000 000
y = f (x) = = .
dx dx 2 dx 3

The differentiation process can be continued.

In general, the n-th derivative of f , denoted by f (n) , is obtained

from f by differentiating n times.
If y = f (x), we write

d n−1 y d ny
 
(n) (n) d
y =f (x) = = .
dx dx n−1 dx n

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• Acceleration

The second derivative has a special meaning. It can be interpreted as

a rate of change of a rate of change.

The most familiar example of this is acceleration, which we define as

follows.

If s = s(t) is the position function of an object that moves in a straight

line, then (we know that) its first derivative represents the velocity v (t)
of the object as a function of time:

ds
v (t) = s0 (t) = .
dt

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The instantaneous rate of change of velocity with respect to time is
called the acceleration a(t) of the object.

Thus the acceleration function is the derivative of the velocity function

and hence it is the second derivative of the position function:

a(t) = v 0 (t) = s00 (t),

or in Leibniz notation
dv d 2s
a(t) = = 2.
dt dt

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• Speed

Let us consider a particle that is moving in a straight line. Denote by

s = f (t) the position function of at a time t.

We already defined
ds
the velocity v (t) = s0 = (the rate of change of position w.r.t.
dt
time), and
the acceleration a(t) = v 0 (t) = s00 (t) (the change of velocity w.r.t.
time).

We now define also the speed which is the absolute value of velocity
|v (t)|.

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Exercise
The position of a particle is given by s = f (t) = t 3 − 6t 2 + 9t, where t is
measured in seconds and s in meters.
(1) Find the velocity at time t.
(2) When is the particle at rest?
(3) When is the particle moving forward (that is, in the positive
direction)?
(4) Draw a diagram to represent the motion of the particle.
(5) Find the total distance traveled by the particle during the first 5
sec.
(6) Find the acceleration at time t and after 4 sec.
(7) Graph the position, velocity, and acceleration functions.
(8) When is the particle speeding up? When is it slowing down?

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Answer.
(1) v (t) = 3t 2 − 12t + 9.
(2) t = 1, t = 3 (sec).
(3) t > 3 (sec), or t < 1 (sec).
(4)

(5) 28 (m).
(6) 12 (m/sec2 ).

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(7)

(8)

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Outline

1 Derivatives of Functions

2 Differentiation Rules

3 The Chain Rule

4 Implicit Differentiation

5 Related Rates

6 Linear Approximations

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We have the following differentiation formulas which allow us to
differentiate functions without having to take limits each time.

d d s
(c) = 0 (x ) = sx s−1
dx dx

(cf )0 = cf 0 Constant multiple (f ± g)0 = f 0 ± g 0 Sum/Diff.

 0
f f 0 g − fg 0
(fg)0 = f 0g + fg 0 Product = Quotient
g g2

Comments. Please avoid the following common mistakes.

 0  0
0 0 0 f f0 f fg 0 − gf 0
(fg) 6= f g , 6= 0 , 6= .
g g g g2

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 Derivatives of trigonometric functions
The differentiation formulas for trigonometric functions are in the
following table. Remember that they are valid only when x is measured
in radians.

(sin x)0 = cos x (csc x)0 = − csc x cot x

(cos x)0 = − sin x (sec x)0 = sec x tan x

1 1
(tan x)0 = = sec2 x (cot x)0 = − = − csc2 x
cos2 x sin2 x

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Outline

1 Derivatives of Functions

2 Differentiation Rules

3 The Chain Rule

4 Implicit Differentiation

5 Related Rates

6 Linear Approximations

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There is a question: How to differentiate a composite function f ◦ g?

Theorem (The Chain Rule)

If g(x) is differentiable at x and f (u) is differentiable at u = g(x), then
the composite function F = f ◦ g defined by F (x) = f (g(x)) is
differentiable at x and F 0 is given by the product

F 0 (x) = f 0 (g(x)) · g 0 (x).

In Leibniz’s notation, if y = f (u) and u = g(x) are differentiable, then

dy dy du
= · ,
dx du dx
dy
where is evaluated at u = g(x).
du

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To use the Chain Rule, we apply the so-called “outer-inner” principle:
First, find and differentiate the outer function.
Next, evaluate what you get at the point g(x).
Finally, multiply that by the derivative of the innner function,
evaluated at x.

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Example
Apply the chain rule to differentiate

x2 − 1
F (x) = sin .
x2 + 1

Solution. This function is a composition F (x) = f ◦ g(x), with:

the outer function: f (x) = sin x,
x2 − 1
the inner function: g(x) = 2 .
x +1
Note that both of f (x) and g(x) are differentiable at every point of R.
Then we can use the Chain Rule to evaluate the derivative of F (x) at
an arbitrary point x.

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Step 1. Differentiate the outer function f (x) = sin x:

f 0 (x) = cos x.

Step 2. Evaluate the result of Step 1 at g(x) (the value of the

inner function at the point x). This is
x2 − 1
cos .
x2 + 1
Step 3. Multiply the result of Step 2 by the derivative of the inner
function:
x2 − 1 d x2 − 1
 
dF
= cos 2 ·
dx x + 1 dx x 2 + 1
x 2 − 1 (2x)(x 2 + 1) − (2x)(x 2 − 1)
= cos 2 ·
x +1 (x 2 + 1)2
x2 − 1 4x
= cos 2 · .
x + 1 (x 2 + 1)2
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• The Power Rule combined with the Chain Rule

Let us make explicit the special case of the Chain Rule where the
outer function f is a power function.

If y = [g(x)]s , then we can write y = f (u) = u s where u = g(x). By

using the Chain Rule and then the Power Rule, we get

dy dy du du
= · = su s−1 = s [g(x)]s−1 g 0 (x).
dx du dx dx
So we obtain the following result.

Theorem
If s is a real number and u = g(x) is differentiable, then

d s du d
(u ) = su s−1 ⇐⇒ [g(x)]s = s [g(x)]s−1 g 0 (x).
dx dx dx

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Example
Differentiate
(a) y = sin(x 2 )
(b) y = sin2 x.

Solution.
(a) For y = sin(x 2 ), we have the outer function is sin u, while the inner
function is x 2 . So the Chain Rule gives
dy dy du
= · = cos u · (2x) = 2x cos(x 2 ).
dx du dx
(b) For y = sin2 x = (sin x)2 , we have the outer function is u 2 , while
the inner function is sin x. So the Chain Rule gives
dy dy du
= · = 2u · cos x = 2 sin x cos x = sin 2x.
dx du dx
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The reason for the name Chain Rule becomes clear when we make a
longer chain by adding another link.

Suppose that y = f (u), u = g(x), and x = h(t), where f , g, and h are

differentiable functions. Then, to compute the derivative of y with
respect to t, we use the Chain Rule twice:

dy dy dx dy du dx
= · = · · .
dt dx dt du dx dt
It is similar for more functions.

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Outline

1 Derivatives of Functions

2 Differentiation Rules

3 The Chain Rule

4 Implicit Differentiation

5 Related Rates

6 Linear Approximations

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• Implicit functions

The functions that we have met so far can be described by expressing

one variable explicitly in terms of another variable, y = f (x).

However, some functions are defined implicitly by a relation between x

and y , say F (x, y ) = 0, such as

x 2 + y 2 = 25, y 2 − x = 0, x 3 + y 3 − 9xy = 0.

The curves represented these equations are as follows.

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CALCULUS I - AY2023-24 41 / 66
In some cases, it is possible to solve such an equation for y as an
explicit function (or even several functions) of x.

First, the circle x 2 + y 2 = 25 combines the graphs of two functions

√ √
y1 (x) = 25 − x 2 and y2 (x) = − 25 − x 2 , which are respectively
the upper (yellow) and lower (blue) semicircles.

Next, the equation y 2 − x = 0 defines into two differentiable

√ √
functions y1 (x) = x (yellow) and y2 (x) = − x (blue).

Finally, the curve x 3 + y 3 − 9xy = 0 is not the graph of any one

function of x, but it can be divided into separate arcs which are the
graphs of functions of x (yellow, blue, and red).

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• Implicit Differentiation

When we cannot solve an equation for y in terms of x in order to find

the derivative of y , fortunately, we may still be able to find dy /dx by the
technique of implicit differentiation.

Implicit differentiation.
Differentiate both sides of the equation w.r.t x (considering y
as a differentiable function of x)
dy
Collect the terms with on one side of the equation and
dx
dy
solve for .
dx

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In the following example, it is (always) assumed that y is a
differentiable function of x.
Example
dy
(a) If x 2 + y 2 = 25, find .
dx
(b) Find an equation of the tangent to the circle x 2 + y 2 = 25 at the
point (3, 4)

Solution.
(a) - Differentiate both sides of the equation:
d 2 d d 2 d 2
(x + y 2 ) = (25) ⇐⇒ (x ) + (y ) = 0.
dx dx dx dx
Remembering that y is a function of x and using the Chain Rule, we
have
d 2 d 2 dy dy
(y ) = (y ) = 2y .
dx dy dx dx
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Thus
dy
2x + 2y = 0.
dx
dy
- Now we solve this equation for :
dx
dy x
=− .
dx y

(b) Equation of the tangent at the point (3, 4)

We have x = 3 and y = 4, and so
dy 3
=− .
dx 4
Then the equation of the tangent to the circle at (3, 4) is

3
y − 4 = − (x − 3) ⇐⇒ 3x + 4y = 25.
4
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Outline

1 Derivatives of Functions

2 Differentiation Rules

3 The Chain Rule

4 Implicit Differentiation

5 Related Rates

6 Linear Approximations

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• Related Rates

In the real life, there are many problems that ask for the rate at which
some variable changes when it is known how the rate of some other
related variables changes.

Such a problem of finding a rate of change from other known rates of

change is called a related rates problem.

For example, if we pump air into a balloon, both the volume and the
radius of the balloon increase, and their rates of increase are highly
related to each other.

But it is much easier to measure the increasing rate of the volume than
the increasing rate of the radius.

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Thus the essential idea of related rate problem is to compute the rate
of change of one quantity, in terms of the rate of change of another
quantity (which may be more easily measured).

The procedure
First, find an equation of the two quantities
Next, use the Chain Rule (to differentiate both sides w.r.t. time) to
get the relation between their rates.

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Example (Mission Impossible)

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Example (Mission Impossible 7 (cont’d))
A police car, approaching the right-angled intersection from the North,
is chasing a speeding car (driven by Ethan Hunt) that has turned the
corner and is now moving straight East. When the police car is 0.6 km
North of the intersection and Ethan’s car is 0.8 km to the East, the
police officer determines with radar that the distance between two cars
is increasing at 30 km/h. Suppose the police car is moving at 100
km/h, what is the speed of Ethan’s car?

Solution. We use the coordinate plane to draw a diagram.

Let x, y , and s are respectively a position of speeding car, a position of

police car, and a distance between two cars, all at time t. Also we
assume x, y , and s are all differentiable functions w.r.t t.

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CALCULUS I - AY2023-24 51 / 66
 dy ds
The given info is x = 0.8 km, y = 0.6 km, = −100 km/h, = 30
dt dt
dx
km/h and the unknown is .
dt
dy
Note that < 0, because y is decreasing.
dt
We have
s2 = x 2 + y 2 ,

and hence we differentiate it to get

 
ds dx dy ds 1 dx dy
2s = 2x + 2y ⇐⇒ =p x +y .
dt dt dt dt x2 + y2 dt dt

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 dy ds
Substituting x = 0.8, y = 0.6, = −100, = 30 into this equation,
dt dt
we obtain
 
1 dx
30 = p 0.8 + 0.6(−100)
(0.8)2 + (0.6)2 dt

m
p
dx 30 (0.8)2 + (0.6)2 + 0.6(100)
= = 112.5
dt 0.8
Thus at the moment in the question, the speeding car’s speed is 112.5
km/h.

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Outline

1 Derivatives of Functions

2 Differentiation Rules

3 The Chain Rule

4 Implicit Differentiation

5 Related Rates

6 Linear Approximations

CALCULUS I - AY2023-24 54 / 66
• Linearization

Let us consider the Figure below.

Near the point of tangency, the curve always lies close to its tangent
line. In fact, by zooming in toward a point on the graph, we see that the
graph looks more and more like its tangent line.

This observation provides a way to approximate values of functions,

called a linearization

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The idea is that it might be easy to calculate the value of function f (x)
at a point x = a, but difficult (or even impossible) to compute f (x) at
nearby points (x ≈ a).

So we approximate the f (x) at (x ≈ a) by the linear function L(x),

whose graph is the tangent line of f (x) at (a, f (a)).

In other words, we use the tangent line at (a, f (a)) as an approximation

to the curve y = f (x) when x is near a.

The equation of this tangent line is

y = f (a) + f 0 (a)(x − a).

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Definitions. Let f be a differentiable function at a point x = a.
The approximating function

L(x) = f (a) + f 0 (a)(x − a)

is the linearization of f at a.

The approximation
f (x) ≈ L(x)

of f by L is called the standard linear approximation of f at a.

The point x = a is called the the center of the approximation.

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Example
√
Find a linear approximation of function f (x) = x + 3 at a = 1 and use
√ √
it to approximate the numbers 3.98 and 4.05. Are these
approximations overestimates or underestimates?
√
Solution. The derivative of f (x) = x + 3 is
1 1
f 0 (x) = √ =⇒ f (1) = 2 and f 0 (1) = .
2 x +3 4

The linear approximation of function f (x) at x = 1 is

1 7 x
L(x) = f (1) + f 0 (1)(x − 1) = 2 + (x − 1) = + .
4 4 4

Hence, the corresponding linear approximation of f at x = 1 is

√ 7 x
x +3≈ + .
4 4
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Taking, in particular, x = 0.98 and x = 1.05, we have
√ 7 0.98
3.98 ≈ + = 1.995,
4 4
and
√ 7 1.05
4.05 ≈ + = 2.0125.
4 4

The two approximations are all overestimates, because the tangent

line lies above the curve.

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• Differentials

The ideas behind linear approximations can be better understood

through differentials.
dy
For a differentiable function y = f (x), we have y 0 = f 0 (x) = . But
dx
contrary to its appearance, it is not a ratio.

We now introduce two new variables dx and dy , with the properties

that when their ratio exists, it is equal to the derivative.

Definitions. Let y = f (x) be a differentiable function. The differ-

ential dx is an independent variable. The differential dy is

dy = f 0 (x) dx.

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Geometrically, if for a point P(x, f (x)) on the graph of f (x), we increase
the coordinate x by a small value ∆x, the change in x, then we arrive
at a new point Q(x + ∆x, f (x + ∆x)) on the graph.

Often the variable dx is chosen to be ∆x, ; i.e. dx = ∆x. Then the

change in y is ∆y = f (x + ∆x) − f (x).

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Since the differential
dy = f 0 (x) dx,

we see that dy represents the amount that the tangent line rises or falls
(the change in the linearization), when x changes by an amount dx.

On the other hand, ∆y represents the amount that the curve y = f (x)
rises or falls, when x changes by an amount dx = ∆x. That is,

∆y = f (x + ∆x) − f (x).

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Example
Compare the values of ∆y and dy if y = f (x) = x 3 + x 2 − 2x + 1 and x
changes
(a) from 2 to 2.05
(b) from 2 to 2.01.

f (2) = f (x) = 9,
Solution. (a) We have x=2 .
f (2.05) = f (x) = 9.717625.
x=2.05
Then ∆y = f (2.05) − f (2.0) = 0.717625.
On the other hand,

dy = f 0 (x)dx = (3x 2 + 2x − 2) dx,

and hence when x = 2 and dx = ∆x = 0.05, this becomes

dy = (3x 2 + 2x − 2) (0.05) = 0.7.

x=2

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(b) We have f (2.01) = f (x) = 9.140701, and hence
x=2.01

∆y = f (2.01) − f (2.0) = 0.140701.

When x = 2 and dx = ∆x = 0.01, this becomes

dy = (3x 2 + 2x − 2) (0.01) = 0.14.

x=2

Comment. From the example, we can see that the differential dy can
be used as an approximation of ∆y . Clearly, compute dy is easier than
finding ∆y .

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Example
The radius of a sphere was measured and found to be 21 cm with a
possible error in measurement of at most 0.05 cm. What is the
maximum error in using this value of the radius to compute the volume
of the sphere?

Solution. Let r be the radius of the sphere. Then the volume V of the
4
sphere is V = πr 3 .
3
If the error of r (in the measured value) is denoted by dr = ∆r , then
the corresponding error in the calculated value of V is ∆V , which can
be approximated by the differential dV = V 0 dr = 4πr 2 dr .
When r = 21 and dr = 0.05, this becomes

dV = 4π(21)2 · (0.05) ≈ 277.

So the maximum error in the calculated volume is about 277 cm3 .

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END OF CHAPTER 2

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