The

Tangent
Line and
the
Deritive
The tangent line to a plane curve at a given
point is the straight line that "just touches" the
curve at that point.
When the curve of a function is graphed, a
tangent line can be drawn intersecting the
curve at one point. In the figure illustrates the
curve of the function f tangent to line l at point
P with coordinates [x, f (x)].
The slope of this line is of great importance as it can be applied in
solving numerous real-life problems. However, the slope can only
be measured using two points through the formula , and

only one point is given. Thus, to approximate the slope, you must
first consider a secant line passing through P and another point Q
on the curve (see figure). If you let h to be the increment (the
horizontal distance of Q and P), then the coordinates of Q will be
[x+h, f(x+h)].
 Solving the slope of PQ, you have

Simplifying the expression on the right side of the equation, you

have

• Now you can make Q arbitrarily close to P such that their

distance is negligible, so that the secant line almost coincides with
the tangent line, as shown in figure.
As you move closer from Q to P, h approaches 0 and the secant
line approaches the tangent line. Therefore, to get the slope of the
tangent line, simply evaluate the limit of the slope of the secant line
as h approaches 0. This fact can be used to define the slope of the
line tangent to curve.
The slope m of the line tangent to the curve y= f(x) at point P[x, f(x)]
given by the equation

provided that the limit exists. This is commonly called the limit of
the difference quotient.
 The slope of the tangent line to a curve at P is also used to find
the slope of the curve at that point. Consider the following
illustrative examples applying this formula.

Example 1: Consider the curve of the function f(x) = 2x².

a. Find an expression for the slope of the curve at any point x.
b. Identify the slope at the point where x= 2.
Solution:
a. f(x)= 2x², so f(x + h) = 2(x + h) ²; thus,
 The general expression for the slope of the line tangent to curve
f(x) = 2r² is 4x.
b. To get the slope of the tangent line at a specific point, simply use
substitution. Therefore, the slope at x= 2 is 4(2)= 8.
Example 2: Find the slope of the tangent line to the curve
f(x) = at x = -1.
Solution: f(x) = , so f(x + h) = . Also,

Thus, the slope of the tangent line at x= -1 is

 A more manageable alternate formula can be derived if z = x + h. This
implies that h + z – x. Evaluating the limit as z approaches x, the formula
for the difference quotient can now be written as

Example 3: Use this equation to find an expression for the slope of the
tangent line to the curve f(x) = .
Solution:

Because the limit is evaluated as z approaches x, you can substitute z for x.

Thus,
 Example 4: A function is defined by the equation y=. Where does
the slope of the tangent line equal ?
Solution: First, find the general expression for the slope of the
tangent line to the curve at any point using this equation

Applying the rationalization technique of evaluating a limit you have

 Thus, the general expression for the slope of
the tangent line to the curve is . To answer the
point where the slope of the tangent line equals ,
get the value of x such that . By inspection, x= 1.
The slope of the tangent line will be at the point on
the curve where x= 1. This means that the point of
tangency where the slope is (1, 1).
Example 5: A function is defined by the equation y=