23

dy

Implicit differentiation is a technique of nding , that makes use of the chain rule to
dx
differentiate implicitly dened functions.

dy
of a parametrised curve, we rst compute the two parametric
dx
dy
dy
dx
dx
dy
and
. Then we apply the formula
= dt , provided
0.
derivatives
dx
dt
dt
dt
dx
dt

We use the following formulae to differentiate inverse trigonometrical functions.

To nd the gradient

d
(sin 1 x ) =
dt

1
1 x
1

d
(cos 1 x ) =
2
dt
1 x
d
1
(tan 1 x ) =
2
dt
1+ x

Given a 0, the function f dened by f : x ax (x being real) is called an exponential

function with base a.

Given a 0 and a 1, the function g dened by g : x loga x (x 0) is called a

logarithmic function with base a.

We use the following formulae to differentiate logarithmic functions.

d
1
(log a x ) = log a e
x
dx
d
1
(ln x ) = , x > 0
dx
x

We use the following formulae to differentiate exponential functions.

x

d x
a
(a ) =
= a x log e a = a x ln a
log a e
dx

When the independent variable, say x, occurs in the index of a function, or when it is required
to nd the derivative of a function involving product or quotient, it is easier to nd the
derivative of the function by taking the logarithm before differentiating. This technique is
known as logarithmic differentiation.

01_m1c1_mathcape2_crb.indd 23

Chapt er 1 : Diff erenti ation II

d x
(e ) = e x
dx

3/2/10 4:01:07 PM