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Business Maths - Lecture 7

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Business Maths - Lecture 7

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thepersonaltap
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Lecture 7

Derivatives and its applications (I)

1
Learning outcomes
• Compute limits of simple functions.
• Understand the concept of continuous functions and their
properties.
• Compute the slope of a tangent line using first principles.
• Use the basic rules of differentiation to compute the
derivatives of polynomials.

2
Limit of a function
• Consider a function defined by f(x) = x + 2. We want to
find the value of f(x) when x approaches a fixed number 3.

• In both cases, the value of f(x) approaches 5 as x


approaches 3. 3
Limit of a function
• Informally, we say that the limit of f(x) = x + 2 is 5 when x
approaches 3
• Mathematically, we write it as
lim  x  2  5
x 3

• Note that the value of f(x) will never reach 5; it just gets
closer and closer to 5.

4
Limit of a function
2
x 4
• Consider another function g  x   .
x 2

• x cannot take the value 2 as we cannot divide by zero.


But…

 x2  4 
lim   4
x 2
 x 2  5
Graphical illustration

x2  4
g x  
x 2

 x2  4 
lim g  x  lim   4
x 2 x 2
 x 2  6
Properties of limits
• Suppose lim f  x  L, lim g  x  M
x a x a

No. Property
r r

1 lim  f  x   lim f  x  Lr


x a  x a 

2 lim cf  x  c lim f  x  cL


x a x a

lim f  x  g  x  lim f  x   lim g  x  L  M


7

3 x a x a x a
Properties of limits

No. Property

4 lim f  x  g  x   lim f  x   lim g  x  LM


x a  x a   x a 

f x  lim f  x  L
5 lim x a

x a g  x  lim g  x  M
x a

8
Evaluating the limit of a function
• We can make use of properties of limits to evaluate the
limit of most functions.
• In the case of rational functions, it is possible that the
limit of the denominator is equal to 0, i.e. the limit has
an indeterminate form.
• We use a different strategy to evaluate the limits in
these cases.
• Factorize and simplify the numerator and denominator
• Replace the original function with the simplified function.
• Evaluate the limit of the new function. 9
Example 7.1
• Evaluate the following limits.

  7 5 175
2
2 2 2
(a) lim 7 x 7 lim x 7 lim x
x 5 x 5 x 5

(b) lim 4 x  x   lim 4 x  lim x 4  2    2   24


4 4 4

x  2 x  2 x  2

   
(c) lim 5 x x  1 5 lim x lim x  1 5 4 
x 4 x 4 x 4
  4  1 41
x  5 lim  x  5 6
(d ) lim  x 1  2
x 1 x  2 lim  x  2  3
x 1 10
Example 7.1
(e) Since lim  x  7  0 , an indeterminate form is obtained.
x 7

lim
x 2  49
lim
 x  7  x  7 
lim x  7 14
x 7 x  7 x 7 x 7 x 7

(f) Since lim  x  4  0 , an indeterminate form is obtained.


x  4

2 x 2  32 2  x  4  x  4 
lim  lim  lim 2  x  4   16
x  4 x4 x  4 x4 x  4

11
Limits at infinity
• When x gets larger and larger instead of approaching a
fixed number, we say that x approaches infinity.
• A function might approach a value when x approaches
infinity.

12
Limits at infinity
• When a function f has the limit L when x approaches
infinity, i.e. increases without bound, we write
lim f  x  L
x 

• When a function g has the limit M when x approaches


negative infinity, i.e. decreases without bound, we write
lim g  x  M
x  

13
Limits at infinity
• To compute the limit of a function at infinity, note that for
n ≥ 1, 1 1
lim n 0 and lim n 0
x  x x   x

• E.g.

14
Evaluating limits at infinity
The following technique is often used:
1. Determine the highest power of x in the denominator
of the expression, say xn.
2. Divide all the terms in both the numerator and
denominator by xn.
3. Use the results above to evaluate the limit for each
term.

15
Example 7.2
x2  x 1
• Evaluate lim
x  2 x 2  8

x2 x 1
2  2 2
x  x 1 x 2
x x
lim lim 2
x  2 x 2  8 x  2x 8
2
 2
x x
1 1
Highest power of x 1  2
x x 1 0  0 1
in the denominator lim  
x  8 2 0 2
2 2
x 16
Example 7.3
• Sierra’s furniture store estimates that the average cost
of making x chairs per year is given by the function
50000
C  x  40 
x
• Evaluate lim C  x  and interpret your results.
x 

17
Example 7.3
 50000 
lim C  x  lim  40  
x  x 
 x 
40  0
40

As the level of production x increases, the average cost


approaches a constant value of $40 per chair.

18
One-sided limits
• In evaluating lim f  x,x can approach the value a in two
x a
ways.
• x is always lesser than a. We say x approaches a from the left
hand side (of a number line) and use a– to represent a number
slightly smaller than a. The limit is denoted by
lim f  x 
x a

• x is always greater than a. We say x approaches a from the right


hand side (of a number line) and use a+ to represent a number
slightly greater than a. The limit is denoted by
lim f  x  19
x a
One-sided limits
• We say that the limit of a function exists and is equal to
L, only when both the left-hand limit and the right-hand
limit are both equal to L, i.e.
lim f  x   lim f  x  L  lim f  x  L
x a x a x a

20
Example 7.4
 1, if x  0
• Let f  x   . Does lim f  x  exist?
 1, if x  0 x 0

lim f  x  1
x 0

lim f  x   1
x 0

Since the one-sided limits are not equal, lim f  x  does


x 0
not exist. 21
Continuous functions
• Informally, a function is continuous at a point if the
function at that point is devoid of holes, gaps or breaks.

• Formally, a function f is continuous at a number x = a if


the following conditions are satisfied:
1. f(a) is defined,
2. lim f  x  exists
x a

3. lim f  x   f a  22
x a
Continuous functions

23
Continuous functions
• If f and g are continuous at the point x = a, then the
following functions are also continuous at that point:
(a) [f(x)]n (where n is a real number),
(b) f ± g,
(c) fg and f/g (provided that g(a) ≠ 0).
• From these properties,
1. A polynomial function is continuous at all values of x
2. A rational function y = f(x)/g(x) is continuous at all 24
Example 7.5
• Find the values of x for which each function is continuous.
(a) f  x  3x 4  x  8
Since f(x) is a polynomial function, it is continuous for all
values of x.
5x
(b) g  x   2
x 1
Note that the denominator x2 + 1 can never be 0. Hence
g(x) is continuous for all values of x.
25
Example 7.5
• Find the values of x for which each function is continuous.
7x
(c ) h  x   2
x 1
Observe that x2 – 1 = (x + 1)(x – 1) and therefore the
denominator is equal to 0 when x = 1 or –1.
Therefore, h(x) is continuous for all values of x except
where x = 1 or –1.

26
Exercise
• Try Discussion questions Q1, 2, and 3.

27
Slope of a tangent line
• A tangent line to the curve cuts the curve at only one point.
• The slope of a curve at a given point is equivalent to the
slope of the tangent line

28
Slope of a tangent line (First principles)
• Want to find the slope of
the tangent at point P.
• Choose a point Q on the
curve a small distance
from P.
f x  h   f x 
Slope of PQ 
x  h   x
f x  h   f x 

h 29
Slope of a tangent line (First principles)
• Want to find the slope of
the tangent at point P.
• Choose a point Q on the
curve a small distance
from P.
f x  h   f x 
Slope of PQ 
x  h   x
f x  h   f x 

h 30
Slope of a tangent line (First principles)
• Make Q approach P along
the curve by decreasing
the value of h.
• When h approaches zero,
the line PQ approaches the
tangent line to P.
• When h approaches zero,
the slope PQ approximates
the slope of the tangent
line to P. 31
Slope of a tangent line (First principles)
• Limit of the slope of PQ
when h approaches zero is
the slope of the tangent line.
• This limit is the derivative of
f at x and is denoted by f’(x).

f x  h   f x 
f '  x  lim
h 0 h

32
Example 7.6
• Find the slope of the tangent line to the graph of f(x) = x2.
What is the slope of the curve at the point where x = 3?

The slope of the tangent line at any point on the graph is


given by the derivative f’(x).
Since f(x) = x2, we have f(x + h) = (x + h)2.

33
Example 7.6
f x  h   f x   
2 2
x  h  x
f '  x  lim lim
h 0 h h 0 h
x 2  2hx  h 2  x 2
lim
h 0 h
2hx  h 2
h 2 x  h 
lim lim lim 2 x  h  2 x
h 0 h h 0 h h 0

At the point where x = 3, f’(x) = 2(3) = 6.


Thus, slope of the curve at x = 3 is 6.
34
Differentiability
• It is possible that the limit examined in the above
section might not exist.
• When the limit does exist, i.e. the derivative of a
function exists, we say that the function is differentiable.
• When the limit does not exist, the function is non-
differentiable, e.g.

35
Basic rules of differentiation
• Certain rules have been derived to simplify the process
for finding the derivative of f at x .
• The process is called differentiation.
• f’(x) is used to mean the derivative of a function f with
respect to x. To indicate that we are differentiating f with
respect to x, we write
d
f '  x    f  x 
dx
36
Basic rules of differentiation
• Rule 1: If c is a constant, then
d
c  0
dx

E.g. f  x  5
d
 f '  x   5  0
dx

37
Basic rules of differentiation
• Rule 2 (The power rule): If n is a real number, then
d n
dx
 x  nx n 1

E.g. f  x   x 7

d 7
 f '  x    x  7 x 7 x
7 1 6

dx

38
Basic rules of differentiation
• Rule 3: If c is a real number and f is a differentiable
function, then
d d
 cf  x  c  f  x 
dx dx

E.g. f  x  2 x 7

d d 7
 f '  x   2 x  2  x  2 7 x 6  14 x 6
7

dx dx

39
Basic rules of differentiation
• Rule 4: If f and g are functions, then
d d d
 f  x  g  x    f  x    g  x 
dx dx dx

E.g. f  x   x  5
7

d 7 d 7 d
 f '  x    x  5    x   5  7 x 6
dx dx dx

40
Example 7.7(a), (b)
• Find the derivatives of the following functions.
1
3
(a) f  x   x  x  3x  1
2
x
d  12  d  1
 d d  1
 d 1
f '  x    x  3 x    x   3x    x   3  x 
1 2 1 2
dx   dx   dx dx   dx
1 1
1 1 1  1 3
 x 2
 3  1 x  1 1
= x 2
 3x 2
or  2
2 2 2 x x
41
Example 7.7(a), (b)
(b) g  x   x  x  1  x  x
3 4

d 4 d 4 d 1
g '  x    x  x    x    x  4 x 4  1  1 x1 1
dx dx dx
4 x 3  x 0 4 x3  1

42
Example 7.8
• Find the slope and an equation of the tangent line to the
graph of f(x) = x3 + 7 at the point (1, 8).

The slope of the tangent line at any point on the graph is


given by the derivative f’(x).
d 3 d 3 d
f '  x    x  7    x   7  3x 2  0 3 x 2
dx dx dx
The slope of the tangent line at the point (1, 8) (where x =
1) is f’(1) = 3(1)2 = 3.
43
Example 7.8
Since the tangent line is a straight line, we can use the
point slope form to obtain its equation.

y  8 3  x  1
y  8 3 x  3
y 3x  5

44
Exercise
• Try Discussion questions Q4, 5 and 6.

45

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