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5 - Differentiation Applications
5 - Differentiation Applications
5 - Differentiation Applications
Fig 2.6
89
Tangents and normals to a curve at a given point
Fig 2.7
The equation of the tangent to a curve y f x at the point Px1 , y1 on the curve is:
y y1 mx x1
dy
m -gradient of the tangent at point P m
dx
The equation of the normal to a curve y f x at the point Px1 , y1 on the curve is:
y y1 x x1
1
m
1 dy
-gradient of the normal at point P m
m dx
Definition:The angle between two intersecting curves is the angle between their tangents
at the point of intersection.
Let k1 and k 2 are two curves with point of intersection P . Let m1 and m2 are the
gradients of the tangents to the curves k1 and k 2 , at point P , respectively. Then, for the
angle between the curves k1 and k 2 we have:
tan 1 m1 tan 1 m2 .
90
1
1. Find the equation of the line passing through the point P (-2,5) with gradient .
3
Solution:
y 5
1
x 2 y 5 1 x 2 y 1 x 2 5 y 1 x 13
3 3 3 3 3 3
1 13
So, the equation of the line is y x .
3 3
1
2. Find the equation of the line passing through the points P 1, 3 and Q , 2 .
3
Solution:
For the value of the gradient of the line we have:
dy 2 3 5 15
m
1
dx 1 4 4
3 3
So, the equation of the line is: y 3 x 1 i.e. y x .
15 15 3
4 4 4
Remark:In this case, we used the coordinates of the point P in the equation of the line.
The result remains the same if, instead P , we use Q .
15 1
Namely, the equation of the line with gradient m , passing through Q , 2 is:
4 3
15 1 15 3
y 2 x i.e. y x .
4 3 4 4
1
3. Find the equation of the line passing through the point P 5,
2
1
a) Parallel to the line p : y x 11
3
b) Perpendicular to the line q : 3x 7 y 1 0
Solution:
a) y x 5 or y x
1 1 1 13
2 3 3 6
3 1
b) The equation of the line q in explicit form is: y x . Now, for the equation of the
7 7
1
line passing through the point P 5, and perpendicular to the line q , we have:
2
y x 5 i.e. y x
1 1 7 67
.
2 3 3 6
7
91
4. Find the equation of the line passing through the point P1,2
a) parallel to the x-axis
b) parallel to the y-axis
Solution:
a) y 2 , b) x 1
5. Find the equations of the tangent and normal to the parabola y x 2 at the point x 1.
Solution:
dy
Since y 1 1;
dy
2 x and m 2 , it follows that:
dx dx x 1
-the equation of the tangent is y 1 2x 1 , that is y 2 x 1
6. Find the equations of the tangent and normal to the curve y x 3 3x 2 2 x 1 at the
point P2,1 .
Solution:
dy
The derivative is: 3x 2 6 x 2
dx
dy
The gradient of tangent at P(2,1) is: m 3 2 2 6 2 2 2
dx P
The equation of the tangent which passes through P is: y 1 2x 2 i.e. y 2 x 3 .
92
1 1
7. Find the equations of the tangent and normal to the curve y at the point P 3, .
9
2
x
Solution:
dy 2
The derivative is: 3
dx x
1 dy 2 2
The gradient of tangent at P 3, is: m 3
9 dx P 3 27
The equation of the tangent at 3, 0.6 is: y 0,6 0,16x 3 or y 0,16x 1,08 .
dy 21 0 2
The gradient of tangent at the origin is: m1 2
dx O 0 2 1
2
1 1
The gradient of normal at the origin is: m1, 0,5 .
m1 2
So, the equation of normal to the curve, at the origin, is: y 0,5 x .
93
10
9. Find the equations of the tangent and normal to the curve y 2 11 at the point
4 x
6, 4 .
Solution:
First, we have to find the derivative of y :
10 dy 0 4 x 10 1 dy 10 dy 5
y 2 11 2y 2y .
4 x dx 4 x 2
dx 4 x 2
dx y4 x
2
dy
The gradient of the tangent at 6, 4 is: m
5 5
dx 6, 4 4 4 6
2
16
Solution:
Differentiating the both sides of 2 x 2 y 2 6 y 9 x 0 , we have:
dy dy dy dy 9 4 x
2 x2 y 2 6 y 9 x 0 4 x 2 y 6 9 0 2 y 6 9 4 x
dx dx dx dx 2 y 6
dy 9 4 5 11
The gradient of the tangent at 5,1 : m
dx 5,1 2 1 6 4
11 11 51
The equation of the tangent at 5,1 is y 1 x 5 , that is y x
4 4 4
1 4
The gradient of the tangent at 5,1 : m
m 11
4 4 31
The equation of the normal at 5,1 is y 1 x 5 , that is y x .
11 11 11
94
11. The parametric equations of a function are x 2 cos3 , y 2 sin 3 . Find the equation
of the normal at the point for which 45 .
4
Solution:
2 2
For 45 , x 2 cos3 , y 2 sin 3 . So, the value 45
4 4 2 4 2 4
2 2
corresponds to the point P , .
2 2
dy
dy d 2 3 sin 2 cos sin
The derivative of the function y is tan .
dx dx 2 3 cos sin 2
cos
d
dy
The gradient of the tangent to the curve is m tan 1 . The gradient of the
dx P 4
1 2 2
normal is m 1 . The equation of the normal at P is y x , that is
m 2 2
y x.
12. If x 1 sin 2t , y 1 cos t cos 2t , find the equation of the tangent at t 60 .
Solution:
3 1 1
For t 60 , x 1 sin120 1 , y 1 cos 60 cos120 1 1 . So, the
2 2 2
3
value t 60 corresponds to the point Q1 ,1 .
2
dy
dy dt sin t 2 sin 2t sin t 2 sin 2t
.
dx dx 2 cos 2t 2 cos 2t
dt
3
The gradient of the tangent to the curve at Q1 ,1 is:
2
3 3
2
dy sin 60 2 sin120
2 3 3
m 2
dx Q 2 cos120
1 2
2
2
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5
The equation of the tangent is y 1 x 1 i.e. y x .
2
2 2 2 4
95
13. Find the equation of the tangent to the curve y x 2 2 which is parallel to the line
y x 2.
Solution:
2 x . The equation of the tangent to the curve y x 2 2 at arbitrary point x0 , y 0 is:
dy
dx
y y 0 2 x0 x x0 , that is y 2 x0 x 2 x02 . Because the tangent is parallel to the line
1 7
y x 2 , it follows that 2 x0 1 i.e. x0 . So, the equation of the tangent is y x .
2 4
14. Find the equation of the normal to the curve y x 2 at the point of intersection of
the curve and the line y x .
Solution:
First, we have to find the point of intersection which is equivalent to finding the solution of
y x 2
the system .
yx
y x 2 x x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 0 x1 2; x 2 1
yx yx yx yx y1 2; y 2 1
Pair 2, 2 is a solution of the system because its coordinates satisfy both equations.
Ordered pair 1, 1 is not a solution because its coordinates don’t satisfy the equation
y x 2 ( 1 1 2 ).
So, the curve y x 2 intersects with the line y x only at the point 2, 2 (in the
further work denoted by P ).
dy 1 dy 1
Since , it follows that the gradient of the tangent at P is m .
dx 2 x 2 dx P 4
1
The gradient of the normal at P is m 4 and the equation of the normal to the
m
curve at P is y 2 4x 2 , that is y 4 x 10 .
96
15. Find a point on the parabola y x 2 2 x 1 such that the normal to the parabola at that
point is parallel to the line x 2 y 3 0 .
Solution:
dy
y x 2 2x 1 2x 2
dx
1 3
The equation of the line x 2 y 3 0 in explicit form is y x .
2 2
y y0
1
x x0 , that is y x02 2 x0 1 1 x x0 , or written
dy 2 x0 2
dx x0 , y0
1 x0
in explicit form: y x x02 2 x0 1 .
2 x0 2 2 x0 2
1 3 1 1
Because the normal is parallel to the line y x , it follows that
2 2 2 x0 2 2
i.e. x 0 2 . The value of the function for x 0 2 is y0 2 2 2 2 1 1. The equation of
the normal to the parabola at the point 2,1 is y x 2 and you can notice that this
1
2
normal is parallel to the line y x . So, 2,1 is the point we are searching for.
1 3
2 2
16. Find the angle between the curves x 2 y 2 4 and 5 x 2 y 2 5 at their point of
intersection for which x and y are positive.
Solution:
x2 y2 4
The coordinates x and y of the point of intersection satisfy the system 2 .
5 x y 2
5
x y 4
2 2
y 4 x
2 2
y 4 x
2 2
y 15 4
2
y 15 2
2 2 2
5x y 5 5 x 4 x 5 4x 1 x 1 4 x 1 2
2 2 2
1 15 1 15 1 15 1 15
So, there are four points of intersection , , ,
2
, ,
2 2 2
, , ,
2 2 2 2
1 15
but we are interested only about , .
2 2
Let m1 and m2 are the gradients of the tangents to x 2 y 2 4 and 5 x 2 y 2 5 at the
1 15
point , , respectively.
2 2
97
Since
dy dy x
x 2 y 2 4 2x 2 y 0
dx dx y
and
dy dy 5x
5 x 2 y 2 5 10x 2 y 0 ,
dx dx y
It follows that:
1 1
5
15 15
m1 2 and m2 2 .
15 15 15 3
2 2
Finally,
for the angle between the curves x 2 y 2 4 and 5 x 2 y 2 5 we have:
15 15
tan 1 m1 tan 1 m2 tan 1 tan 1 tan 1 0,258 tan 1 1,29
3
15
14,47 52,22 37,75.
98