11.

Implicit Differentiation and Higher-Order

Derivative
Tony U
University of Macau

Outline

1 Implicit Differentiation

2 Higher-Order Derivatives

Implicit Differentiation

Explicit and Implicit Functions

Explicit function: a function y = f (x) that the dependent

variable are on the one side of the equation and does not
appear in the other side of the equation. e.g.
y = x 3 + x.
Implicit function: a function that the dependent and
independent variables are on the same side of the equation.
e.g.
y x 3 x = 0, or x 3 + y 3 + x + y = 1.

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Implicit Differentiation

Implicit Differentiation

First, solve the implicit equation to obtain an explicit function. If it

is not available, we may need the implicit differentiation technique
as following:
1. Differentiate both sides of the equation with respect to x.
Remember that y is really a function of x and use the chain
rule when differentiating terms containing y .
2. Solve the differential equation algebraically for

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dy
dx .

Implicit Differentiation

Example 1
Find

dy
dx

if xy 2 + x 2 + y = 2.

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Implicit Differentiation

Example 1
Find

dy
dx

if xy 2 + x 2 + y = 2.

Sol.:


d
xy 2 + x 2 + y = 2
dx
2
dy
dx
dx 2 dy
x
+ y2
+
+
dx
dx
dx
dx
dy
dy
2xy
+ y 2 + 2x +
dx
dx
dy
dx

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d2
dx

= 0
= 0
=

y 2 + 2x
.
2xy + 1

Implicit Differentiation

Example 2

Find

dy
dx

2
if x 3 = y x 2 .

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Implicit Differentiation

Example 2

Find

dy
dx

2
if x 3 = y x 2 .

Sol.: Since x 3 = y x 2
dy
dx

2

can transfer to y = x 2 + x 2 , thus

=
=

3
d
x 2 + x2
dx
3
x + 2x.
2

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Implicit Differentiation

Example 3
Determine the equation of the line tangent to the curve
x 3 + 3x 2 y + 17 = 0 when x = 1.

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Implicit Differentiation

Example 3
Determine the equation of the line tangent to the curve
x 3 + 3x 2 y + 17 = 0 when x = 1.
Sol.:


d 3
x + 3x 2 y + 17
dx
dy
d3x 2
3x 2 + 3x 2
+y
+0
dx
dx
dy
3x 2 + 3x 2
+ 6xy
dx
dy
dx

d0
dx

= 0
= 0
=
-5-

6xy + 3x 2
2y
= 1
,
3x 2
x

Implicit Differentiation

Sub. x = 1 into 13 + 3(1)2 y + 17 = 0, y = 6. Therefore,


dy 
2(6)
= 1
= 11,

dx x=1
1
the tangent line should be y = 11x + c, since (1, 6) is a point
the tangent line,
6 = 11(1) + c
c = 17,

the tangent line is y = 11x 17.

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Implicit Differentiation

Example 4
A nationwide company finds that the demand D (in millions) of
one of its products is given by
D=

x + A2
x2 + A + 1

(1)

where x denotes the price in dollars and A denotes the amount per
month spent on advertising (in millions of dollars). Currently, the
price is $2 and the company is spending $3 million per month
advertising this product (A = 3). Find the rate at which the
amount of monthly advertising expense is changing with respect to
the price of the product at the current demand level.

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Implicit Differentiation

Find the rate at which the amount of monthly advertising expense

is changing with respect to the price of the product at the current
demand level.

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Implicit Differentiation

Find the rate at which the amount of monthly advertising expense

is changing with respect to the price of the product at the current
demand level.
x + A2

Sol.: Transfer D = 2
to
x +A+1
implicit differentiation,

D(x 2 + A + 1) = x + A2 ,


d 
D(x 2 + A + 1)
dx

dA 
D 2x +
dx
dA
dx

d
x + A2
dx

1 + 2A

2xD 1
,
2A D

by using

dA
dx

Sub. x = 2, A = 3 into (1), we have D = 1.375. Thus

dA
dx

2(2)(1.375) 1
= 0.97
2(3) 1.375

Ans: The rate is 0.97 million dollar of advertising expense per

dollar of the price of the product.
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Higher-Order Derivatives

Higher-Order Derivatives
The rate of change of a function f (x) with respect to x,
denoted as f (x), is called the first derivative. The second
derivative of a function is the derivative of its first derivative
and is denoted by
d2 y
dx 2

or

f (x)

Second order derivative: the rate of change of the rate of

change of the original function.

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Higher-Order Derivatives

Higher order derivative: Successively differentiating the

function for n times, we have the nth derivative of the
function and denoted by
dn y
dx n

or

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f (n) (x).

Higher-Order Derivatives

Example 5

If f (x) = x 5 6x 4 + 3x 2 + 5, find the first to fifth derivatives of

f (x).

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Higher-Order Derivatives

Example 5

If f (x) = x 5 6x 4 + 3x 2 + 5, find the first to fifth derivatives of

f (x).
Sol.: f (x) = 5x 4 24x 3 + 6x

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Higher-Order Derivatives

Example 5

If f (x) = x 5 6x 4 + 3x 2 + 5, find the first to fifth derivatives of

f (x).
Sol.: f (x) = 5x 4 24x 3 + 6x

f (x) = 20x 3 72x 2 + 6

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Higher-Order Derivatives

Example 5

If f (x) = x 5 6x 4 + 3x 2 + 5, find the first to fifth derivatives of

f (x).
Sol.: f (x) = 5x 4 24x 3 + 6x

f (x) = 20x 3 72x 2 + 6

f (x) = 60x 2 144x

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Higher-Order Derivatives

Example 5

If f (x) = x 5 6x 4 + 3x 2 + 5, find the first to fifth derivatives of

f (x).
Sol.: f (x) = 5x 4 24x 3 + 6x

f (x) = 20x 3 72x 2 + 6

f (x) = 60x 2 144x
f (4) (x) = 120x 144

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Higher-Order Derivatives

Example 5

If f (x) = x 5 6x 4 + 3x 2 + 5, find the first to fifth derivatives of

f (x).
Sol.: f (x) = 5x 4 24x 3 + 6x

f (x) = 20x 3 72x 2 + 6

f (x) = 60x 2 144x
f (4) (x) = 120x 144
f (5) (x) = 120.

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Higher-Order Derivatives

Example 6

A ball moves in the path of a straight line and its distance S (in
feet), from its starting point after t seconds have elapsed is given
by
S = 4t 2 + 36t (0 t 9).
Find its acceleration. (Note: The instantaneous rate of change of
speed with respect to time is called instantaneous acceleration.)

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Higher-Order Derivatives

Sol.: S is the speed and the acceleration is the rate of change of

the speed, so it is the second derivative of S,
S = 8t + 36
S = 8,
Ans: Its acceleration is -8 feet per second square.

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Higher-Order Derivatives

Example 7
For the cost function C (x) = 0.001x 3 0.3x 2 + 40x + 1000 (in
dollars), where x is the production level in units, compute C (150)
and interpret the result.

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Higher-Order Derivatives

Example 7
For the cost function C (x) = 0.001x 3 0.3x 2 + 40x + 1000 (in
dollars), where x is the production level in units, compute C (150)
and interpret the result.
Sol.:
C (x) = 0.003x 2 0.6x + 40
C (x) = 0.006x 0.6
C (150) = 0.006(150) 0.6 = 0.3.
Since C (x) is the marginal cost, C (x) is the rate of change of
marginal cost. Therefore the marginal cost will increase $0.3 per
unit square when the production level is 150 units.
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