NOTES

01

P H Y S I C S

MATHEMATICAL TOOLS
DIFFERENTIATION

What you already know What you will learn

• What is a function • Exponential functions

• Algebraic functions • Logarithmic functions limits
• Graphs of linear and quadratic equations • Differentiation of a function
• Trigonometric functions and ratios • Slope of a curve
• Important trigonometric formulae • Properties of differentiation

SOME IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS

Polynomial Trigonometric Exponential Logarithmic

Functions Functions Functions Functions

Exponential Functions

• It is a function whose value is a constant

Graph of exponential functions
raised to the power of a variable.
𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑏𝑥
10
• Where b, any number such that b > 0 and
b ≠ 1, is known as the base and x can 8
take the value of any real number. f(x) = 2 x
6
• Example: Radioactivity of certain unstable 4
elements. 2
x
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

10
8
6
g(x) = 0.5x
4
2
x
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4

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 02

Natural Exponential Function

y

An exponential function whose base is the

Euler’s number ‘e’.
y = f(x) = ex

Euler’s number (𝑒) ≈ 2.718

(0,1)
x

Example

Given the function f(x) = 4x, evaluate the following:

(i) f (−3) (ii) 𝑓 − 1

2

Solution

(i) 𝑓(−3) = 13 = 1 (ii) 𝑓 − 1 = 1 = 1

4 64 2 4½ 2

Logarithmic Function

• They are the inverse of exponential functions. They are represented as: f(x) = loga (x).
• Where x > 0 and a, also known as base, takes any value greater than 0, except 1. This
function implies that, y = loga x ⇒ x = ay.

Think what will happen if you put a = 1.

𝑥 = 1𝑦
Which means x can only be 1 for any value of y.
So, log1 1 could be any number.

Natural Logarithm

If base = e, f (x) = loge (x) = ln (x)

Graph of a logarithmic function

• Graph is always on the positive side of (and never crosses) the y-axis.
• It always intersects the x-axis at x = 1 i.e. it passes through (1,0).
• At x = a, f(x) = 1  i.e., it passes through (a,1).

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 03

𝒚 𝒚
f(x) = logbx

(𝒃, 𝟏)
(𝒃, 𝟏)
𝒙 𝒙
(𝟏,𝟎)
(𝟏,𝟎)

b>1
0<b<1

Properties of Logarithmic Functions

1 Product Rule log𝑏 𝑚𝑛 = log𝑏 𝑚 + log𝑏 𝑛

2 log𝑏 m = log𝑏 𝑚− log𝑏 n

Quotient Rule
n

3 Power Rule log𝑏 𝑚p = p. log𝑏 𝑚

4 Change of Base Rule logc b

loga b =
logc a

𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑏 1 = 0 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑏 𝑏𝒙 = 𝒙𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑏 𝑏

𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑏 𝑏 = 1

Example

If log10 2=0.3010 and log10 3=0.4771, then find the approximate value of log10 36.
Solution: log10 36 = log10 62 = 2 log10 6
= 2 log10 (3 × 2) = 2(log10 3 + log10 2)
= 2(0.3010 + 0.4771) ≅ 1.56

Limits
• A limit is the value (L) that a
function (𝑓(𝑥)) 'approaches' Approaching...
as the input (x) 'approaches'
some value (𝑣).
• Mathematically, it is written as
lim f(x) = L
x→v
Here, the car is not at the shop yet but approaching it.

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 04

(𝑥2 − 1)
Consider the function: 𝑓(𝑥) =
(𝑥 − 1)

• If we substitute the value x = 1, then the value of

(x2-1)
the equation becomes 0 . X
0 (x-1)
• However, if the value of x approaches 1, then 0.5 1.50000
we can see from the table that the value of the 0.9 1.90000
function approaches 2. 0.99 1.99000
• Hence, we can write it as follows 0.999 1.99900
𝑙𝑖𝑚 (x -1) = 2
2 0.9999 1.99990
x→1
(x-1) 0.99999 1.99999

As 𝜽→𝟎 Thus,

𝜽 𝑸
𝑶 𝑹 𝑶 𝑹
𝑷 𝜽 𝑷
𝑙𝑖𝑚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝜽 = 1
𝜽→𝟎
𝜽

𝐴𝑟𝑐 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑄𝑅 𝑃𝑄 𝑄𝑅
𝜃 = = sin 𝜃 = ≈
𝑅𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑂𝑄 𝑂𝑄 𝑂𝑄
𝑃𝑄 sin 𝜃 ≈ 𝜃
sin 𝜃 =
𝑂𝑄

𝑙𝑖𝑚 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝜽 = 1 𝑙𝑖𝑚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝜽 = 1 𝑙𝑖𝑚 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽 = 1

𝜽→𝟎
𝜽→𝟎
𝜽 𝜽→𝟎
𝜽

Tangent - The limiting case of secant

y y y y
Secant
B B
B
Tangent
A Δy A Δy A Δy A, B (P)
Δx Δx Δx
x x x x
Tangent
For tangent at P,
• A line that touches the curve at one point.
∆𝒚
• A limiting case of secant that intersects the curve at two infinitesimally close Slope = lim
h→0 ∆𝒙
points.
𝒅𝒚
• The derivative of a function at a point gives the slope of tangent at that point. = = 𝒚′ = 𝒇′(𝒙)
𝒅𝒙
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 05

Differentiation
Differentiation
• It is the study of variation of one quantity with respect to
another quantity. We can find the rate of change of a function to differentiate
using differentiation.
𝒅𝒚
• It is denoted by the notation: , where y = f(x) is a function. to find the derivative
𝒅𝒙
𝒅𝒚
𝒚′=𝒇′ (𝒙)=
𝒅𝒙

Derivatives of Functions

d d
(1) (sin x) = cos x (7) (xn) = nxn−1 Power Rule
dx dx

d d 1
(2) (cos x) = - sin x (8) (ln x) =
dx dx x

d d 1
(3) (tan x) = sec2 x (9) (loga x) =
dx dx x ln a

d d
(4) (cot x) = - cosec2 x (10) (ax) = ax ln (a)
dx dx

d d
(5) (sec x) = sec x tan x (11) (ex) = ex
dx dx

d
(6) (cosec x) = - cosec x cot x
dx

Example

Differentiate between the following:

d
(a) 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥3, with respect to 𝑥 (𝒙𝒏) = 𝒏𝒙n − 1
dx
𝑑(𝑥3)
𝑓′ (𝑥) = = 3𝑥3 − 1 = 3𝑥2
𝑑𝑥
3
(b) 𝑓 (𝑡) = 𝑡 4 , with respect to t
3
𝑑 𝑡 4 3 3 -1 3 1 3
𝑓′ (𝑡) = = 𝑡4 = 𝑡 4 =
𝑑𝑡 4 4 1
4𝑡 4

Properties of Derivatives

• Derivative of constant times a function = Constant times derivative of the function

𝒅 𝒅𝒇(𝒙)
(𝒂𝒇(𝒙)) = 𝒂
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙

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 06

• Derivative of sum or difference of two functions = Sum or difference of the derivative of the
functions
𝒅 𝒅𝒇(𝒙) 𝒅𝒈(𝒙)
(𝒇(𝒙) ± 𝒈(𝒙)) = ±
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
Product Rule

d(f(x).g(x)) df(x) dg(x)

= g(x) + f(x)
dx dx dx
d d d
Example: (xsin x) = sin x. (x) + x. (sin x)
dx dx dx
= sin x + x cos x

Example: Differentiate f (x) = 2 cos (x) - 6 sec (x) + 3

𝑑𝑓 𝑑 𝑑 d
𝑓′ (𝑥)= =2 (cos𝑥) − 6 (sec 𝑥) + (3)
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 dx
f′ (x) = −2 sin x − 6 sec x tan x

Example: Differentiate y = f (w) = tan (w) sec (w) with respect to w.

𝑑𝑓 𝑑
= (tan(𝑤).sec(𝑤))
𝑑𝑤 𝑑𝑤
𝑑 𝑑
= tan (𝑤) sec (𝑤) + sec (𝑤) tan (𝑤)
𝑑𝑤 𝑑𝑤
= tan(𝑤) {sec(𝑤) tan(𝑤)} + sec(𝑤) {sec2 (𝑤)}
= sec(𝑤) tan2(𝑤) + sec3(𝑤)
dy
y′= = f ′ (w) = sec(w) tan2(w) + sec3(w)
dx

Division Rule

𝒅𝒇(𝒙) 𝒅𝒈(𝒙)
𝒈(𝒙) − 𝒇(𝒙)
𝒅 𝒇(𝒙) 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
= =
𝒅𝒙 𝒈(𝒙) (𝒈(𝒙))𝟐
d d
cos x. (sin x) − sin x. cos x
d d sin x dx dx
Example: (tan x) = =
dx dx cos x cos2 x
sin2 x + cos2 x
= = tan2 x + 1 = sec2 x
cos2 x
Chain Rule

If f = f (g) and g = g (x), then,

df df dg
= .
dx dg dx

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 07

1
Example: Differentiate g (t) = .
(4t − 3t + 2)2
2

𝑑𝑔 𝑑
𝑔′ (𝑡) = = −2(4𝑡2 − 3𝑡 + 2)−2−1 (4𝑡2 − 3𝑡 + 2)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
= −2(4𝑡2 − 3𝑡 + 2)−3 (4(2𝑡) − 3)
2(8t − 3)
=−
(4t2 − 3t + 2)3
dg 2(8t − 3)
g′ (t) = =
dt (4t2 − 3t + 2)3

Example: Differentiate sin (2x) with respect to x.

Using Chain Rule, Using Product Rule,
𝑦 = sin(2𝑥) 𝑑𝑦 𝑑
= (sin(2x))
𝑑𝑦 𝑑 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
= (sin(2x))
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 =2sinx cosx
𝑑 𝑑
= cos(2x) (2x) = (2sinx cosx)
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
= 2cos(2x) 𝑑 𝑑
= 2 [sinx (cosx) + cosx (sinx)]
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
= 2[−sin2 x + cos2 x]
= 2cos(2x)
dy
y′= = f′ (x) = 2cos 2x
dx

Example: Differentiate g (x) = e1−cos(x) with respect to x.

𝑑𝑔 𝑑
𝑔′ (𝑥) = = (𝑒1−𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑥))
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
Using Chain Rule,
𝑑𝑔 𝑑
= 𝑒1−𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑥) (1−cos 𝑥)
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑 𝑑
= 𝑒1−𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑥) (1) − (cos 𝑥)
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
= 𝑒1−𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑥) (sin 𝑥)
= (sin 𝑥). 𝑒1−𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑥)
dg

g′ (x) = = (sin x). e1−cos(x)
dx

Double Differentiation

𝑑2𝑦 𝑑 𝑑𝑦
=
𝑑𝑥2 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

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 08

f (x)

f (x) = sin (x)

f ’ (x) = cos (x)
f ’’ (x) = -sin (x)
𝑑 𝑑 f’’(x)
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

f’(x)

d2y
Example: If y = cos(x2), what is ?
dx2
Differentiate the first time using the Chain Rule.
dy d
⇒ = - sin x2 × (𝑥2) = − sin x2 × 2x = -2x sin x2
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

Differentiate the second time using the Product Rule and the Chain Rule.
𝑑2𝑦 d d
= sin x2 × (-2x) + (-2x) × (sin x2)
𝑑𝑥 2
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
= −2 sin x2 − 2x cos x2 × (2x)
d𝟐 y
y′′= = −2 sin (x2) −4x2 cos (x2)
dx𝟐

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