Lecture 1: Limits, Derivatives, the

Product Rule, the Quotient Rule,

and the Chain Rule
Part I: Limits and Continuity
 Objectives
• Know
  what left limits, right limits, and limits are
• Know how to compute simple limits
• Know what it means for a function to be
continuous
• Know how and behave as .

Corresponding sections in Simmons: 2.5, 2.6

 What is a limit?
• A
  limit is what happens when you get closer
and closer to a point without actually reaching
it.
• Example: If then as , .
• We write this as .

x 0 .9 .99 .999 .9999

f(x) 0 1.8 1.98 1.998 1.9998
 Why are limits useful?
• Many
  functions are not defined at a point but
are well-behaved nearby.
• Example: If then is undefined. However, as , ,
so
4
3
2
x 0 .9 .99 .999 .9999 1
f(x) 0 1.9 1.99 1.999 1.9999 f(x) 0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
x
 Left Limits and Right Limits
 
Consider . is undefined. As ,
4
x -1 -.1 -.01 -.001 -.0001 3
f(x) -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 2
1
 
As , f(x) 0
-1
x 1 .1 .01 .001 .0001
-2
f(x) 1 1 1 1 1
-3
-4
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
x
 
We write this as
 Limit Definition Summary
• We
  say that if as
• We say that if as
• If (i.e. it doesn’t matter which side x
approaches a from) then we say that
 Nonexistence of Limits
•  Limits can fail to exist in several ways
• 1. or may not exist.
• Example: oscillates rapidly between 0 and
1 as (or ). Thus, DNE (does not exist)
• Example: gets larger and larger as . We
write this as
• 2. and may both exist but have different
values. Ex: near
 Computing Limits
• To
  compute :
• If nothing special happens at , just compute .
Example:
• If plugging in gives , factors can often be
cancelled when .
Example:
4
 Computing Limits Continued
• Useful
  trick:
• Example: What is ?
 Limits at Infinity
• We
  can also consider what happens when or .
Example: Consider . As (or ), . We write this as
 Computing  Limits at
• General
  strategy : figure out the largest terms
and ignore everything else
• Example: If , as only the in the numerator
and the will really matter, so
 Growth Rates
  as
• As
  , as long as and
• Examples:
 Limit Laws
•  If and then:

• (if )
• Etc.
 Continuity
• Definition:
  is continuous at a if both and exist
and are equal.
• Note: Polynomials are always continuous
everywhere. Most functions we will be working
with are continuous almost everywhere.
 Discontinuous functions
•may
  fail to be continuous at because:
1. or does not exist.
• Example: If then does not exist.
• Example: If then is undefined.
2. or both exist but have different values.
• Example: If then = 1 but
 Two Trigonometric Limits
• How
  do and behave as ?
• Consider . We can’t cancel and directly,
but if we think about it…
x
1
sin(x) 1
x x
x sin(x)

• As , looks more and more like , so .

 
 Two Trigonometric Limits (cont.)
•  How about ? Clearly, , but consider .

• In fact, for small x, .

Part II: Derivatives
 Objectives:
• Know what a derivative is
• Know how to compute simple derivatives from
the definition of a derivative
• Know some basic facts about continuous and
differentiable functions.
• Corresponding Sections in Simmons: 2.3,2.6
 What is a derivative?
• The
  derivative of a function says how fast
changes as changes.
• Visually, is the slope of at .
  4
Example: If then 3
because the slope of at is 2
1. We can see this by 1
f(x) 0
looking at the tangent -1
line to at . -2
-3
-4
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
x
 Why are derivatives useful?
• Tells us how quickly something is changing.
• In physics: velocity is the derivative of position
and acceleration is the derivative of velocity
(with respect to time).
• Optimization: Derivatives are crucial for finding
the minimum or maximum of functions.
• And much much more.
 Computing derivatives
•• To
  compute the slope of a line, we take rise/run)
• We could try to do the same thing with a function, taking

 •Unfortunately, the slope of

f(x) can change with x, so we 4
get the average slope of f(x) 3
over the interval rather than 2
the exact slope of f(x) at x.  𝑥3 1
• However, if we make smaller 𝑓 ( 𝑥 )= 0
16 -1
and smaller, the slope of f(x)
varies less and less in and we -2
get a better and better -3
estimate. -4
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
x
 Derivative Definition and Examples
• We
  accomplish this by taking the limit as .
• Definition:
• If f’(x) exists then we say that f is differentiable at x

 
Example: If then

Example: If then
 Leibniz Notation
•• So
  far, we have written the derivative of a function f as f’.
• Another notation, devised by Leibniz, is .
• Warning: is a single function. and do not have values on their
own.

 Advantages of Leibniz notation:

• Emphasizes how the derivative is computed.
• Makes it easier to express the product rule, quotient rule, and
chain rule
Disadvantage of Leibniz notation:
• Need clumsy notation like or to write the derivative of a
function at a particular point.
Differentiable Implies Continuous
• Restatement
  of continuity: f is continuous at
x if and only if exists and where .
• f is differentiable exists
• If f is differentiable at x then

• Thus, differentiability implies continuity

• Warning: The converse is false. Not all
continuous functions are differentiable!
 The Extreme Value Theorem
• Theorem:
  If f is continuous on a closed interval
then f takes a maximum and minimum value on .
More precisely, there are such that for all ,
• The extreme value theorem seems obvious, but it
is not so easy to prove it rigorously
• The extreme value theorem depends on all of its
hypotheses. The statement is not true if f is not
continuous or we consider the open interval (a,b)
rather than the closed interval .
The Intermediate Value Theorem
• Theorem:
  If f is continuous on a closed
interval then f assumes every value
between and . More precisely, for any K
such that K is strictly between and , there
is a such that .
• Corollary: If f is continuous and and have
opposite signs then there is a such that .
 The Mean Value Theorem
•• Theorem:
  If f is continuous on a closed interval and
differentiable on then there is a such that
• Note that this is the slope of the line from to

4
 Example: If then then if we 3
2
take and , the mean value
theorem tells us that there is a 1
f(x) 0
such that . This is indeed true -1
as
-2
-3
-4
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
x
 Average and Instantaneous Speed
• The idea behind the derivative is that if we look
at smaller and smaller intervals (taking the limit
as the length of the interval approaches 0), the
average speed over the interval approaches the
instantaneous speed.
• The mean value theorem says that over any
interval, there is some point where the
instantaneous speed matches the average speed.
• Warning: These statements are only true for
differentiable position functions. Otherwise,
weird stuff can happen.
Other Consequences of the Mean
Value Theorem
• If
  on an interval then f is increasing on
that interval (increasing means that
implies that ).
• If on an interval then f is decreasing on
that interval.
• If on an interval then f is constant on
that interval.
Part III: Rules for Derivatives
 Objectives:
• Know
  the derivatives of , ,
• Know the product rule, quotient rule, and
chain rule and be able to use them to
compute sums, products, quotients, and
compositions of these functions.

Corresponding sections in Simmons: 3.1,3.2,3.3,

3.4
 Derivative
  of
•• For
  nonnegative integers n,
• Examples:

• If then
• This holds for all n, not just nonnegative integers! We’ll prove
this for rational numbers later using implicit differentiation.
 Derivative
  of
•  

• Recall that
• Recall that

• If then
 Derivative
  of
•  
• Following similar reasoning, if then
Derivatives of Sums and Differences
•  

• This seems intuitive, but let’s check the first

equation to be sure.
• Take
•
 The Product Rule
• What
  is ?
• Warning:
 The Quotient Rule
• What
  is ?
• Warning:
 The Chain Rule
• What
  is where is a function of ?
• Chain rule:
• Example: If then taking and ,
 Reasoning behind the Chain Rule
• “Proof”
  of the chain rule (has a flaw, but the
intuition is right!):

• Technical issue: What if ?

• Fix: where as (and thus as ) Now