Chapter 1.

Differentiability
The derivate

•Tangent line problem

•Finding the slope
•Definition of the Derivate
•Notation & Examples
•Derivate rules
Tangent Line Problem

 How to find slope of a curve at a point?

y  f (x) Secant Line

Tangent Line

x x + Δx
y  f (x)

x  0
Setting up a limit!

Slope of the
Tangent Line

x x + Δx
1.) Find slope of the secant line

y  f (x) Secant Line

x x + Δx
y  f (x)

Conclusion:

mtan  lim msec

x0

x x + Δx

f ( x  x)  f ( x)
mtan  lim
x 0 x
Called the difference quotient
Definition of the Derivative

For a function f(x) the average rate of

change along the function is given by:

lim f ( x  x)  f ( x) f ( x  h)  f ( x )
m  f ' ( x)  or lim
x  0 x h 0 h

Which is called the derivative of f

Notation of the Derivative

The derivative of a function f at x is given by:

f ( x  x)  f ( x)
mtan  f ' ( x)  lim
x 0 x
**Provided the limit exists

Notation: f (x ) dy d [ f ( x)] Dx [ y ]

dx dx
Notation

There are lots of ways to denote the derivative of a function y = f(x).

f’(x) the derivative of f

df the derivative of f with
y’ y prime dx respect to x.
d
dy the derivative of y f (x) the derivative of f at x
dx
dx with respect to x.
Terminology

 Differentiation (Differentiate) – the process of

finding the derivative

 Differentiable – when a functions derivative

exists at x
dx does not mean d times x !

dy does not mean d times y !

dy
does not mean df  dx !
dx
d
f  x  does not mean
d
times f  x !
dx dx
(except when it is convenient to treat it that way.)
Comparison: f and f’

Graph of f
Graph of f’
 Increasing
• Positive (above x axis)
 Decreasing
• Negative (below x axis)
 Maximum or minimum value
(when slope = 0) • Zero
When Derivatives Fail

1. Cusp or sharp point:

cusp
When Derivatives Fail

2. Vertical asymptotes:

3. When one sided limits fail

When Derivatives Fail

4. Removable discontinuity
When Derivatives Fail

5. Corners or vertical tangents

 4

1
y  f  x

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
3
The derivative is
the slope of the 2
original The derivative is defined at the end points of a
function. 1 function on a closed interval.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

-1
y  f  x
-2
Making use of the derivate definition calculate:

2.) Find the slope of the tangent line to the curve y  x2 at x=2 and x=6

f ( x  h)  f ( x )
mtan  lim
h 0 h
First, find the Slope at any point
Differentiate the following functions using the definition

3.) Differentiate f ( x)  2 x  3 (if possible)

4.) Differentiate f ( x)  x 2  x  1 (if possible)
5.) Differentiate f ( x)  x if possible

xh  x xh  x
f ( x)  lim 
h 0 h xh  x
 2
6.) Find the derivative of f ( x) 
x 1

2 2

( x  h)  1 x  1
f ( x)  lim
h 0 h