Elementary Calculus for Technology

CHAPTER 2
DIFFERENTIATION

In order to achieve the Outcome Based Education (OBE), at the end of this
chapter the students should be able to:
9 Find the derivative using a definition of differentiation and theorem of
differentiation
9 Solve the differentiation using the product rule, quotient rule, Chain
rule, Implicit rule and Logarithmic & Exponential function technique.

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 Elementary Calculus for Technology

2.0 WHAT IS DIFFERENTIATION?

Differentiation is a process of finding a function that outputs the 'rate of change' of one
variable with respect to another variable. Let's say we want to track the position of a car on a two-
lane road with no passing lanes. Now, assuming the car is moving continuously, we can actually
study the car's position by assigning it as “ x ”. Since the car's position may change to left or right
lanes as the time changes, we may say that “ x ” is dependent on time or; x f (t ) mathematically.
This tells where the car is located at each specific time. Differentiation may represent the speed of

the car that is the rate of change of its position with respect to time or; dx dt .

In this chapter, you will learn two different methods of differentiation which are by
definition known as first principle and simply by using techniques.

2.1 DEFINITION OF DIFFERENTIATION

Let f  x be a function which is defined on some interval a, b and let c be some number
in this interval. The derivative of the function f  x at b is the value of the limit or known as the
slope of the tangent.

f  x  f c
f '  b  lim
xoc xc

Let h be a small increment in x , and h o 0 instead of x o c . This gives the formula

x ch
f c  h  f c 
f '  b  lim
h o0 h
The above process is called differentiation by using a definition of differentiation or also known
as a first principle. Therefore

f  x  h   f x 
f ' x  lim
h o0 h

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 Elementary Calculus for Technology

Example 1 Differentiate the following functions with respect to x by using first principles

(a) y 3x  8

(b) f  x  5 x 2  13 x

(c) f  x 2 x

Solution

(a) y 3x  8

f  x  h  f  x
f '  x  lim
h o0 h
3  x  h   8  (3x  8)
lim
h o0 h
3x  3h  8  3x  8
lim
h o0 h
3h
lim
h o0 h

lim 3
h o0

(b) f  x  5 x 2  13 x

f  x  h  f  x
f '  x lim
h o0 h
ª5  x  h  2  13  x  h  º   5 x 2  13x 
lim ¬ ¼
h o0 h
5 x 2  10 xh  5h 2  13x  13h  5 x 2  13x
lim
h o0 h
h (10 x  5h  13)
lim
h o0 h
10 x  13

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 Elementary Calculus for Technology

(c) f  x 2 x

f  x  h 2 ( x  h)
f  x  h  f  x
f '  x  lim
h o0 h
2 xh 2 x 2 xh 2 x
lim u
h o0 h 2 xh 2 x
4  x  h  4x
lim
h o0

h 2 xh 2 x 
4 x  4h  4 x
lim
h o0

h 2 xh 2 x 
4h
lim
h o0

h 2 xh 2 x 
4
lim
h o02 xh 2 x
4
2 x 2 x
1
x

Exercise 1 Find f '  x by using first principles of the following function

(a) f  x  3x 2  x3

1
(b) f x 
x
Solution

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 Elementary Calculus for Technology

Solution (continue)

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