MTH101: Calculus I

IBU Lecture 5: Derivatives

International Burch University
Lecture 5: Derivatives (Sections 2.1 & 2.2)

Definition
The tangent line to the curve y = f (x) at the point P(a, f (a)) is the
line through P with slope

f (x) − f (a)
m = lim
x→a x −a
if this limit exists.
m is called the slope of the curve y = f (x) at the point P.

The slope of the tangent line can also be written as

f (a + h) − f (a)
m = lim
h→0 h
Note that h = x − a.

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Example 1: Find an equation of the tangent line to y = x 2 + 1 at
P(1, 2).

f (x) − f (1) x2 + 1 − 2
m = lim = lim
x→1 x −1 x→1 x −1
x2 − 1
= lim
x→1 x − 1

(x − 1)(x + 1)
= lim
x→1 x −1
= lim (x + 1) = 2
x→1

The equation of the tangent line to y = x 2 + 1 at P(1, 2) is:

y − 2 = 2(x − 1)

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 Definition
The derivative of a function f at a number a, denoted by f 0 (a) is
given by
f (a + h) − f (a)
f 0 (a) = lim
h→0 h
if this limit exists.
f 0 (a) can also be written as

f (x) − f (a)
f 0 (a) = lim
x→a x −a

Tangent Line
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).

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Example 2: Find the derivative of f (x) = x 2 + x at x = a.

f (a + h) − f (a)
f 0 (a) = lim
h→0 h
(a + h)2 + (a + h) − a2 − a
= lim
h→0 h
a2 + 2ah + h2 + a + h − a2 − a
= lim
h→0 h
h2 + 2ah + h
= lim
h→0 h
= lim (h + 2a + 1) = 2a + 1
h→0

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Rates of Change
Let y = f (x), and denote ∆x = x2 − x1 and ∆y = f (x2 ) − f (x1 ).

Average rate of change

The quotient
∆y f (x2 ) − f (x1 )
=
∆x x2 − x1
is called the average rate of change of y with respect to x.

Instantaneous rate of change

∆y f (x2 ) − f (x1 )
Instantaneous rate of change = lim = lim
∆x→0 ∆x x2 →x1 x2 − x1

Note that f 0 (a) = Instantaneous rate of change of y = f (x) with respect

to x when x = a.

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Example 3: A manufacturer produces bolts of a fabric with a fixed
width. The cost of producing x meters of this fabric is C = f (x) dollars.
(a) What does f 0 (x) mean?
(b) What does f 0 (1000) = 9 mean?

(a) f 0 (x) is the instantaneous rate of change of C with respect to x. It is

the rate of change of the production cost with respect to the number of
meters produced.

(b) f 0 (1000) = 9 means that, after 1000 meters of fabric have been
produced, the rate at which the production cost is increasing is $9/m

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Derivative as a Function

The derivative of a function y = f (x) is

f (x + h) − f (x)
f 0 (x) = lim
h→0 h
Other notation: If we use the notation y = f (x), then the following are
common alternative notations for the derivative:
dy df d
f 0 (x) = y 0 = = = f (x) = Df (x) = Dx f (x)
dx dx dx

d
D and dx are called differentiation operators.

At x=a:  
dy  dy
or
dx x=a dx x=a

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The process of finding the derivative of a function y = f (x) is called
differentiation.

Definition
A function f is differentiable at a if f 0 (a) exists. It is differentiable on
an open interval I if it is differentiable at every number in the interval.

Example 4: If f (x) = x 2 + x + 1, find the derivative of f. State the

domain of f 0 .
2
+(x+h)+1−x 2 −x−1
f 0 (x) = lim f (x+h)−f
h
(x)
= lim (x+h) h
h→0 h→0
2
+2xh+h2 +x+h+1−x 2 −x−1
= lim x h =
h→0
2
= lim 2xh+h
h
+h
= lim h(2x+h+1)
h = lim (2x + h + 1) = 2x + 1
h→0 h→0 h→0

0
The domain of f is (−∞, ∞).
 x
Example 5: Find f 0 of f (x) = . What is the domain of f 0 ?
1−x

f (x + h) − f (x)
=
h

x +h x h
− = (1 − (x + h))(1 − x)
1 − (x + h) 1 − x =
h
(x + h)(1 − x) − x(1 − (x + h))
= 1
(1 − (x + h))(1 − x) =
(1 − (x + h))(1 − x)
x + h − xh − x 2 − x + x 2 + xh
= f (x + h) − f (x)
(1 − (x + h))(1 − x) f 0 (x) = lim
h→0 h
h
= 1
(1 − (x + h))(1 − x) = lim
h→0 (1 − (x + h))(1 − x)

1
=
(1 − x)2

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4 − x, if x < 1;
Example 6: Where is f (x) = differentiable?
3x 2 , if x ≥ 1

For x < 1, we have For x > 1

f (x + h) − f (x) f (x + h) − f (x)
f 0 (x) = lim = f 0 (x) = lim =
h→0 h h→0 h
4 − (x + h) − (4 − x) 3(x + h)2 − 3x 2
= lim = lim
h→0 h h→0 h
4−x −h−4+x x 2 + 2xh + h2 − x 2
= lim = 3 lim
h→0 h h→0 h
−h h(2x + h)
= lim = = 3 lim =
h→0 h h→0 h
= lim (−1) = −1 = 3 lim (2x + h) = 6x
h→0 h→0

The function is not differentiable at x=1, since

f (x)−f (1)
lim x−1 = −1 and lim+ f (x)−f
x−1
(1)
= lim+ (6x) = 6.
x→1− x→1 x→1

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 Theorem
If f is differentiable at a, then f is continuous at a.

Note: Continuity does not imply differentiability. (e.g. y = |x|).

When is a function not differentiable? A function f is not

differentiable at a, if one of the following happens
I
f (a + h) − f (a) f (a + h) − f (a)
lim 6= lim− ,
h→0+ h h→0 h

I f is not continuous at a
I the curve has a vertical tangent x=a, that is, f is continuous at a and

lim |f 0 (x)| = ∞
x→a

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Example 7: Find f 0 (0) for f (x) = x 1/3 .

f (0 + h) − f (0) h1/3 1
= = 2/3
h h h

f (a + h) − f (a) 1
lim = lim 2/3 = ∞
h→0 h h→0 h

which means that f 0 (0) does not exist.

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Higher Derivatives

If f is a differentiable function, then f 0 is also a function, and it may have

a derivative, which is denoted (f 0 )0 = f 00 . The function f 00 is called the
second derivative of f. We use the following notation for the second
derivative
d 2y
y 00 =
dx 2
Example 8: Find f 00 of f (x) = x 2 .

(x + h)2 − x 2 2(x + h) − 2x
f 0 (x) = lim f 00 (x) = lim
h→0 h h→0 h
x 2 + 2xh + h2 − x 2 2x + 2h − 2x
= lim = lim
h→0 h h→0 h
h(2x + h) 2h
= lim = lim
h→0 h h→0 h

= lim (2x + h) = 2x = lim 2 = 2

h→0 h→0

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Higher Derivatives
The third derivative of f is the derivative of the second derivative f 00 :
f 000 = (f 00 )0 . We use the following notation for the third derivative

d 3y
y 000 =
dx 3
Example 9: Find f 000 of f (x) = x 2 .

From the previous example: f 00 (x) = 2, and we have

f 00 (x + h) − f 00 (x) 2−2
y 000 = (y 00 )0 = lim = lim =0
h→0 h h→0 h
The nth derivative of f is the derivative of the (n-1)st derivative f (n) :
f (n) = (f (n−1) )0 . We use the following notation for the nth derivative

d ny
y (n) =
dx n

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