Problem Let p(x); q(x) be polynomials with real coefficients such that

p(x2 + x + 1) = p(x)q(x):
Prove that p must have even degree.
3.1.3 Problem A function f defined over all real numbers is continuous and for all real x
satisfies
(f (x)) ((f _ f )(x)) = 1:
Given that f (1000) = 999, find f (500).
3.1.4 Problem Suppose that f : [0 ; 1] [0 ; 1] is continuous. Prove that there is a number
c in [0 ; 1] such
that f (c) = 1 c.
3.1.5 Problem (Universal Chord Theorem) Suppose that f is a continuous function of
[0 ; 1] and that f (0) =
f (1). Let n be a strictly positive integer. Prove that there is some number x 2 [0 ; 1] such
that f (x) = f (x+1/n):

3.2 Graphical Differentiation

In this section we will take a very informal approach to differentiation. A more formal
approach will be given
in the next section.
111 Definition Let f be a continuous function and let A(a; f (a)) be a point on the graph of
the function. We
say that f is smooth at A if upon imagining a particle travelling at some steady speed along
the curve, then
the particle does not experience an abrupt change of direction.
b

A
Figure 3.3: Smooth
curve at A.
b

A
Figure 3.4: Corner at A.
b

A
Figure 3.5: Cusp at A.
b

A
Figure 3.6: Tangent line
at x = a.
112 Example Figure 3.3 gives an example of a smooth curve. The curve in figure 3.4 has a
sharp corner
at A and it is not smooth. The curve in figure 3.5 is a cusp.
113 Definition If f is an affine function, we define the tangent line at any point A(a; f (a))
to be the line that
is the graph of f . Otherwise, if f is a smooth function at the point A(a; f (a)), then tangent
line at A is the
unique line with the following properties:
1. for a sufficiently small neighbourhood of A, the line just touches the curve at A.
2. for this sufficiently small neighbourhood of A, the portion of the curve inside the
neighbourhood is on
only one side of the line.
The derivative of f at x = a, denoted by f 0(a), is the slope of the tangent line at x = a.
36
Graphical Differentiation
114 Example Figure 3.6 gives an example of the tangent line to a curve.
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2

3
4
5
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

Figure 3.7: Example 115.

-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
b

Figure 3.8: Example 115.

115 Example For the curve in figure, find, approximately, the value of f 0(1).
Solution: I We draw a line through the point (1; f (1)) that just grazes the curve, as in
figure
3.8. We compute the slope of this line:
3 (1)
20
= 2:
Hence we find f 0(1) = 2.
J
116 Definition If a function f is differentiable at every point x of its domain, then the
derivative function of
f , denoted by f 0, is the function with assignment rule x 7 f 0(x).
Given the graph of a smooth curve, we can approximately obtain the graph of its derivative
by taking the
following steps.
1. We divide up the domain of f into intervals of the same length.
2. For each endpoint x of an interval above, we look at the point (x; f (x)) on the graph of f .
3. We place a ruler so that it is tangent to the curve at (x; f (x)).
4. We find the slope of the ruler. Recall that any two points on the tangent line (the ruler)
can be used to
find the slope.
5. We tabulate the slopes obtained and we plot these values, obtaining thereby an
approximate graph of f 0.
To further aid our graphing of the derivative, we make the following observations.
1. If the function increases, then the slope of the tangent is positive.
37
Chapter 3
2. If the function decreases, then the slope of the tangent is negative.
3. If the curve is convex, then the slope of the tangent increases.
4. If the curve is concave, then the slope of the tangent decreases.
See figures 3.9 through 3.12 for several examples.
Figure 3.9: Increasing and convex. Figure 3.10: Decreasing and convex.
Figure 3.11: Increasing and concave. Figure 3.12: Decreasing and concave.
117 Example Find an approximate graph for the derivative of f given in figure 3.13.
Solution: I Observe that from the remarks following figure 3.10, we expect f 0 to be positive
in
[1:4;0:6], since f increases there. We expect f 0 to be 0 at x = 0:6, since f appears to
have
a (local) maximum there. We expect f 0 to be negative in [0:6; 0:6] since f decreases
there. We
expect f 0 to be 0 at x = 0:6, since f appears to have a (local) minimum there. Finally we
expect
f 0 to be positive for [0:6; 1:4] since f is increasing there.
In our case we obtain the following (approximate) values for f 0(x).