MODULE 2

DERIVATIVE OF A FUNCTION

SLOPE OF A CURVE

RATE OF CHANGE

Introduction:

This module will discuss about the derivative of a function and the slope of a curve.

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1.Find the derivative of a function

2. Find the slope of a tangent line to a curve at a point indicated.

3.Find the rate of change of a function.

Solutions for Assignment No. 1

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SMEEc113 - RMCRivero |DERIVATIVE OF A FUNCTION, SLOPE OF A CURVE, RATE OF CHANGE 2
Find the domain of the variable x for which the following equations determine y as the real function of x:

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DISCUSSION:

DERIVATIVE OF A FUNCTION

The derivative of a function f(x) is the ratio of the increment of the function to the increment of the
independent variable when the latter increment varies and approaches zero as a limit.

Suppose y = f(x).

Taking the increment on both sides, denoting ∆x as the increment in x and ∆y as the increment in y:

y + ∆y = f(x + ∆x)

∆y = f(x + ∆ x) – y

∆y = f(x + ∆x) – f(x)  since y = f(x)

∆𝑦 𝑓(𝑥+ ∆𝑥)− 𝑓(𝑥)

=  dividing both sides by ∆x
∆𝑥 ∆𝑥

∆𝑦
is a measure of the rate at which y is changing with respect to x for the interval ∆x. Suppose we
∆𝑥
regard x as fixed and then let ∆x vary and approach zero, then

∆𝑦 𝑓(𝑥+∆𝑥)− 𝑓(𝑥)
lim = lim is the rate of change of f(x) at x.
∆𝑥→0 ∆𝑥 ∆𝑥→0 ∆𝑥

Therefore,

𝑑𝑦 𝑓(𝑥 + ∆𝑥) − 𝑓(𝑥)

= lim
𝑑𝑥 ∆𝑥→0 ∆𝑥
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑓
In addition to 𝑑𝑥 , other symbols used for the derivative of y = f(x) are f’(x), y’ Dxy, Dxf, and 𝑑𝑥 .

The four-step rule for differentiation:

1. Substitute x + ∆x for x and y + ∆y for y in y = f(x).

2. Substitute y = f(x) from the result of step 1 to obtain ∆y in terms of x and ∆x.

3. Divide both sides of step 2 by ∆x.

4. Find the limit of step 3 as ∆x approaches 0.

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Examples:

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SLOPE OF A CURVE

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Let P and Q be any two distinct points of the curve y=f(x). The line PQ is a secant line. If P is fixed and Q
is made to approach P along y=f(x), the secant line PQ approaches a definite line PT as a limit. This line is
called tangent line to the curve y=f(x) at point P.

We let y=f(x) be the equation of the curve and let (x,y) and (x + ∆x, y + ∆y) be the coordinates of P and Q
𝑅𝑄 ∆𝑦
respectively. From the above figure, the slope of the secant line PQ is 𝑃𝑅
= ∆𝑥
. Since the slope of the
𝑅𝑄
tangent line PT is the limit of as Q approaches P, that is, as ∆x approaches zero, then
𝑃𝑅

𝑑𝑦
The slope (m) of the tangent line at P(x,y) is 𝑑𝑥 .

The slope (m) of the tangent line defines the slope of a curve at the point of tangency. Hence, the slope
(m) of the curve y=f(x) at the point (h,k) is f’(h).

Examples:

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RATE OF CHANGE

If a body falls from a position of rest and air resistance is neglected, we know that from physics that an
approximation formula for the distance s in feet fallen in time t in seconds is

S = 16t2

We observe that the velocity of the body is not constant since it falls 16 feet the first second, 48 feet the
second second, 80 feet at the third second, and so on. When an object such as this is moving at a varying
velocity, its exact velocity at any particular instant can only be estimated by a process of calculating
average velocities of the object over shorter and shorter intervals of time, each interval containing the
instant in question. Thus, to find the velocity of the falling body at the end of two seconds we could
compile a table like illustrated below, and we could conclude that the average velocity at time t=2 is
close to 64 feet per second

Time Interval Distance Covered Average Velocity

1 to 2 48 48
1.9 to 2 6.24 62.4
1.99 to 2 0.6384 63.84
2 to 2.01 0.6416 64.16
2 to 2.1 6.56 65.6
2 to 3 80 80

This same conclusion can be reached more effectively by using algebraic methods of analysis. For
example, if t and t0 denote any two different times, the corresponding locations of the falling body are
given by s=16t2 and s0=16t02 and the average velocity for the time interval t0 to t is

𝑠− 𝑠0 16(𝑡 2− 𝑡 20)
= = = 16(𝑡 − 𝑡0 )
𝑡− 𝑡0 𝑡−𝑡0

As the time interval shortens and t gets closer to t0, it is clear that becomes more and more nearly
equal to 16(𝑡0 − 𝑡0 ). Thus if we denote by v0 the exact velocity at time t0, we conclude that

v0 = 32t0

This formula gives v0 = 64 feet per second when t0 = 2 seconds, in agreement with the preceding
arithmetical analysis.

The process by which we have defined the exact velocity v0 is called taking the limit as t approaches t0,
and we write this as:
𝑠 − 𝑠0
lim
𝑡→𝑡0 𝑡 − 𝑡0
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Whenever any two measurable quantities are related in some manner, we may be interested in
investigating their relative rate of change. Thus, if x0 and y0 are specific values of two related quantities x
and y, the rate of change of y with respect to x for the particular value x0 is the defined as the limit
𝑦−𝑦0
lim
𝑥→𝑥0 𝑥−𝑥0

This limit is called the derivative of y with respect to x at x = x0.

Example:

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Sources:
 Peterson, Thurman S. Calculus with Analytic Geometry. Ken Incorporated
 Roberto, Y., Sandoval, C., Santos, E., and Viola, J., Differential Calculus (Revised Edition),
Bulacan, 2005

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