The Chain Rule

1
The Chain Rule

2
The Chain Rule
When applying the Chain Rule, it is helpful to think of the
composite function f ° g as having two parts—an inner part
and an outer part.

3
The Chain Rule
The derivative of y = f (u) is the derivative of the outer
function (at the inner function u) times the derivative of the
inner function.

4
The Quotient Rule

5
Example 4 – Using the Quotient Rule
Find the derivative of

Solution:
Apply Quotient
Rule.

6
The General Power Rule
The function y = (x2 + 1)3 is an example of one of the most
common types of composite functions, y = [u(x)]n.

The rule for differentiating such functions is called the

General Power Rule, and it is a special case of the Chain
Rule.

7
Example 4 – Applying the General Power Rule

Find the derivative of f (x) = (3x – 2x2)3.

Solution:
Let u = 3x – 2x2. Then

f (x) = (3x – 2x2)3 = u3

and, by the General Power Rule, the derivative is

f ʹ′(x) = 3(3x – 2x2)2 [3x – 2x2] Apply General Power Rule.

= 3(3x – 2x2)2(3 – 4x). Differentiate 3x – 2x2.

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The Derivative of the Natural Logarithmic Function

9
Bases Other than e
The base of the natural exponential function is e. This
“natural” base can be used to assign a meaning to a
general base a.

10
Bases Other than e
Logarithmic functions to bases other than e can be defined
in much the same way as exponential functions to other
bases are defined.

11
4 Applications of Differentiation
4.1 Extrema on an Interval

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Extrema of a Function

14
Extrema of a Function
A function need not have a minimum or a maximum on an
interval. For instance, in Figure 4.1(a) and (b), you can see
that the function f (x) = x2 + 1 has both a minimum and a
maximum on the closed interval [–1, 2], but does not have
a maximum on the open interval (–1, 2).

(a) f is continuous, [–1, 2] is closed. (b) f is continuous, (–1, 2) is open.

Figure 4.1 15
Extrema of a Function
This suggests the following theorem.

16
Relative Extrema and Critical Numbers

17
Relative Extrema and Critical Numbers
In Figure 4.2, the graph of f (x) = x3 – 3x2 has a relative
maximum at the point (0, 0) and a relative minimum at
the point (2, – 4).

f has a relative maximum at (0, 0)

and a relative minimum at (2, –4).
Figure 4.2
18
Relative Extrema and Critical Numbers

19
Example 1 – The Value of the Derivative at Relative Extrema

Find the value of the derivative at each relative extremum

shown in Figure 4.3.

Figure 4.3

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Example 1(a) – Solution
The derivative of

Differentiate using Quotient Rule.

Simplify.

At the point (3, 2) the value of the derivative is f ʹ′(3) = 0

[see Figure 4.3(a)].

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Example 1(b) – Solution cont’d

At x = 0, the derivative of f (x) = | x | does not exist because

the following one-sided limits differ [see Figure 4.3(b)].

Limit from the left

f ʹ′(0) does not exist.

Limit from the right Figure 4.3(b)

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Example 1(c) – Solution cont’d

The derivative of f (x) = sin x is

f ʹ′ (x) = cos x.

At the point (π / 2, 1), the value of the

derivative is f ʹ′ (π / 2) = cos(π / 2) = 0.

At the point (3π / 2, –1), the value of

the derivative is f ʹ′ (3π / 2) = cos(3π / 2) = 0 Figure 4.3

[see Figure 4.3(c)].

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Relative Extrema and Critical Numbers
Note in Example 1 that at each relative extremum, the
derivative either is zero or does not exist. The x-values at
these special points are called critical numbers.
Figure 4.4 illustrates the two types of critical numbers.

c is a critical number of f.
Figure 4.4
24
Relative Extrema and Critical Numbers
Notice in the definition that the critical number c has to be
in the domain of f, but c does not have to be in the domain
of f ʹ′.

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Finding Extrema on a Closed Interval
Theorem 4.2 states that the relative extrema of a function
can occur only at the critical numbers of the function.

Knowing this, you can use the following guidelines to find

extrema on a closed interval.

26
Finding Extrema on a Closed Interval
The next example show how to apply these guidelines.

Be sure you see that finding the critical numbers of the

function is only part of the procedure.

Evaluating the function at the critical numbers and the

endpoints is the other part.

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Example 2 – Finding Extrema on a Closed Interval

Find the extrema of f (x) = 3x 4 – 4x3 on the interval [–1, 2].

Solution:
Begin by differentiating the function.

f (x) = 3x 4 – 4x3 Write original function.

f ʹ′(x) = 12x3 – 12x2 Differentiate.

To find the critical numbers of f in the interval (–1, 2), you

must find all x-values for which f ʹ′(x) = 0 and all x-values for
which f ʹ′(x) does not exist.
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Example 2 – Solution cont’d

f ʹ′(x) = 12x3 – 12x2 = 0 Set f ʹ′(x) equal to 0.

Factor.
12x2(x – 1) = 0

x = 0, 1 Critical numbers

Because f ʹ′ is defined for all x, you can conclude that these

are the only critical numbers of f.

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Example 2 – Solution cont’d

By evaluating f at these two critical numbers and at the

endpoints of [–1, 2], you can determine that the maximum
is f (2) = 16 and the minimum is f (1) = –1, as shown in the
table.

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Example 2 – Solution cont’d

The graph of is shown in Figure 4.5.

On the closed interval [–1, 2], f has a minimum

at (1, –1) and a maximum at (2, 16).
Figure 4.5
31
 Rolle’s Theorem and the
4.2 Mean Value Theorem

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Rolle’s Theorem
The Extreme Value Theorem states that a continuous
function on a closed interval [a, b] must have both a
minimum and a maximum on the interval.

Both of these values, however, can occur at the endpoints.

Rolle’s Theorem, named after the French mathematician
Michel Rolle, gives conditions that guarantee the existence
of an extreme value in the interior of a closed interval.

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Rolle’s Theorem

34
Rolle’s Theorem
From Rolle’s Theorem, you can see that if a function f is
continuous on [a, b] and differentiable on (a, b), and if
f (a) = f (b), then there must be at least one x-value between
a and b at which the graph of f has a horizontal tangent, as
shown in Figure 4.8(a).

f is continuous on [a, b] and differentiable on (a, b).

Figure 4.8(a)
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Rolle’s Theorem
If the differentiability requirement is dropped from Rolle’s
Theorem, f will still have a critical number in (a, b), but it
may not yield a horizontal tangent. Such a case is shown in
Figure 4.8(b).

f is continuous on [a, b].

Figure 4.8(b) 36
Example 1 – Illustrating Rolle’s Theorem
Find the two x-intercepts of

f (x) = x2 – 3x + 2

and show that f ʹ′ (x) = 0 at some point between the two

x-intercepts.

Solution:
Note that f is differentiable on the entire real number line.
Setting f (x) equal to 0 produces

x2 – 3x + 2 = 0 Set f (x) equal to 0.

(x – 1)(x – 2) = 0. Factor.

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

So, f (1) = f (2) = 0, and from Rolle’s Theorem you know that
there exists at least one c in the interval (1, 2) such that
f ʹ′ (c) = 0.

To find such a c, you can solve the equation

f ʹ′ (x) = 2x – 3 = 0 Set f ʹ′ (x) equal to 0.

and determine that f ʹ′ (x) = 0 when

38
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

Note that this x-value lies in the open interval (1, 2), as
shown in Figure 4.9.

The x-value for which f ʹ′ (x) = 0 is between

the two x-intercepts.
Figure 4.9

39
The Mean Value Theorem

40
The Mean Value Theorem
Rolle’s Theorem can be used to prove another theorem
—the Mean Value Theorem.

Although the Mean Value Theorem can be used directly in

problem solving, it is used more often to prove other
theorems.

41
The Mean Value Theorem
Geometrically, the theorem guarantees the existence of a
tangent line that is parallel to the secant line through the
points (a, f (a)) and (b, f (b)), as shown in Figure 4.12.

Figure 4.12

42
The Mean Value Theorem
Example 3 illustrates this geometric interpretation of the
Mean Value Theorem.

In terms of rates of change, the Mean Value Theorem

implies that there must be a point in the open interval (a, b)
at which the instantaneous rate of change is equal to the
average rate of change over the interval [a, b].

43
Example 3 – Finding a Tangent Line
Given f (x) = 5 – (4/x), find all values of c in the open
interval (1, 4) such that

Solution:
The slope of the secant line through (1, f (1)) and (4, f (4)) is

44
Example 3 – Solution cont’d

Note that the function satisfies the conditions of the Mean

Value Theorem. That is, f is continuous on the interval
[1, 4] and differentiable on the interval (1, 4).

So, there exists at least one number c in (1, 4) such that

f ʹ′(c) = 1. Solving the equation f ʹ′(x) = 1 yields

which implies that x = ±2.

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

So, in the interval (1, 4), you can conclude that c = 2, as

shown in Figure 4.13.

The tangent line at (2, 3) is parallel to the

secant line through (1, 1) and (4, 4).
Figure 4.13

46
The Mean Value Theorem
A useful alternative form of the Mean Value Theorem is as
follows: If f is continuous on [a, b] and differentiable on
(a, b), then there exists a number c in (a, b) such that

Alternative form of Mean Value

Theorem

47