Differentiation

Basic Differentiation
The instant rate of change of y with respect to
written
.
By long as
experimentation,
it is

is

dy
dx

possible to prove the following:

If
then

dy
=
dx

xn
1
n
nx

How to
Differentiate:
multiply by the power
reduce the power by
one

dy
Note that
gradient.dx

describes both the rate of change and the

Differentiation

The Derived Function

It is also possible to express differentiation using
function notation.
Newton

If

f (x )

then

f (x)

xn
nx n 1

The derived function

f (x)
function with
x respect to

dy
and
f (x)
dx

Leibniz

mean exactly the same

thing written in different
ways.
is the rate of change of the
f (x)
.

Differentiation

Differentiation of Expressions with

Multiple Terms
The basic process of differentiation can be applied to
every

x-term in an algebraic expession.

= ax m +

bx n +

dy
= amx m 1 +
dx

bnx

n1

Importa
nt
Expressions must be
written as the sum
of individual terms
before
differentiating.

How to
Differentiate:
multiply every x-term by the
power
reduce the power of every x-term by one

Differentiation

Example of Basic
Differentiation

dy

Find
for dx

7
= 3x4 5x3 + 2
x
+9
y = 3 x 4 5 x 3 + 7 x -2 +
9
dy
= 12 x 3 15 x 2 14
dx

x -3

14
= 12 x 3 15 x 2 3
x

this
disappears
because0

9 =9 x

(multiply by
zero)

Differentiation

Differentiating Products
If there are factors to a product, differentiation will
followed by using formula.

du
dv
dy
v
+
= u
dx
dx
dx

Where,

u&v

represents the
factors of the
product.

Differentiation

Differentiating Quotients
Differentiation of quotient requires following formula.

dy
=
dx

du
v
dx

dv
u
dx
v2

Where,

u&v

represents dividend
& divisor
respectively.

Differentiation

Differentiating expressions involve Exponential, e

and Log

dy
x
x
of e remains e
dx

dy
ax
x
of e gives ae
dx
dy
1
of loge x gives
dx
x

dy
1
of loga x gives
dx
x
dy
1
of log x gives
dx
10
x

loga e

log e
10

dy
of a x gives a x x loge a
dx

Differentiation

Increasing and Decreasing

Curves
The gradient at any point on a
curve can be found by
differentiating.

dy
> 0 then y is
dx
increasing.
dy
If
< 0 then y is
dx
decreasing.
If

dy
>0
dx

dy
<0
dx

dy
<0
dx

Gradie
nt

Positiv
e
uphill slope
Negativ
e
downhill slope

Differentiation

Stationary Points
If a function is neither increasing or decreasing, the
gradient is zero and the function can be described as
stationary.
There are two main types of
stationary point.
Turning
Points

Points of
Inflection

Maximu
m

Risin
g

Minimum

dy
=0
dx

At any stationary point,

Fallin
g

Differentiation

1
0

Investigating Stationary Points

Use a nature
table to reduce
the amount of
working.

Exampl
e
Find the stationary
point of

f (x ) = x 2 8 x + 3

and determine its

nature.
Stationary point
given by

f (x) = 0

slightly
less than
four

f (x)

f (x) = 2 x 8
2 x 8= 0

x=4

slightly
more

4+

gradient
is positive

slope

The stationary point at

=
is a minimum turning
point.

Differentiation

1
1

Investigating Stationary
Points
Example 2
Investigate the stationary
points of

= 4x3

x4

4x2 = 0

x
y

=0
=0

or

0+

dy
dx

slope

dy
= 12 x 2 4 x 3= 0
dx
4 x 2 (3

stationary point at (0,0):

x)= 0

x =0
x =3
y = 27

rising point of
inflection

stationary point at (3, 27):

3+

dy
dx

slope
maximum turning
point