APPLICATIONS OF DIFFERENTIATION

Rate Of Change

Lilian F. Kyei (Coordinator)

Notes Prepared By Esther Hill

Department of Mathematics
University of Ghana

First Semester, 2021

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 1 / 21
 Outline

• Introduction
• Application in Physics
• Application in Chemistry
• Application in Biology
• Application in Economics
• Application in Other Sciences
• Practice Questions

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 2 / 21
 Introduction

dy
• When we have y = f (x), can be read as the rate of change of y
dx
with respect to x.
• If x changes from x1 to x2 the change in x is denoted ”∆x”.

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 3 / 21
 Introduction

y = f (x)

• So,
∆x = x2 − x1
• And the corresponding change in y is ∆y = f (x2 ) − f (x1 )
∆y f (x2 ) − f (x1 )
• So =
∆x x2 − x1
dy ∆y f (x2 ) − f (x1 )
• = lim = lim
dx ∆x→0 ∆x ∆x→0 x2 − x1

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 4 / 21
 Application in Physics

• We use the function s = f (t) in Physics to represent the position

function. s is the displacement and t is time.
∆s
• = average velocity v over time t.
∆t
ds
• = v is the instantaneous velocity.
dt

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 5 / 21
 Example

(1) The position of a particle is given by s = f (t) = t3 − 6t2 + 9t. t is

measured in seconds and s in meters.
(i) Find the velocity at time t.
ds
Solution: v(t) =
dt
v(t) = 3t2 − 12t + 9

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 6 / 21
 (ii) What is the velocity after 2s and 4s?
Solution: v = 3t2 − 12t + 9, so

v(2) = 3(2)2 − 12(2) + 9

= −3m/s

v(4) = 3(4)2 − 12(4) + 9

= 9m/s

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 7 / 21
 (iii) When is the particle at rest?
Solution: At rest, v(t) = 0

3t2 − 12t + 9 = 0
3(t − 1)(t − 3) = 0
We have that t = 1, and t=3

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 8 / 21
 (iv) When is the particle moving forward in the positive direction?
Solution: We want to see when v(t) > 0
3(t − 1)(t − 3) > 0
It moves forward when t > 3 or t < 1 and moves backward when
v(t) < 0 so that will be when 1 < t < 3

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 9 / 21
 (v) Find the total distance covered in the first 5 seconds.
Solution: We know that it moves both forward and backward in the
first 5 seconds so we cannot directly calculate f (5).
In the 1st second,
|f (1) − f (0)| = 4
From 1 → 3,
|f (3) − f (1)| = 4
From 3 → 5,
|f (5) − f (3)| = 20
∴ the total distance covered in the first 5s is 4 + 4 + 20 = 28meters

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 10 / 21
 t=3, s=0

t=1, s=4
t=0, s=0

O s

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 11 / 21
 Applications in Chemistry

• A chemical reaction results in the formation of a substance(product)

from one or more materials(reactants).
• Suppose A + B −→ C . The concentration of a reactant A is
| {z } |{z}
reactants products
the number of moles per liter and is denoted [A].
∆[C]
• Average rate of reaction of the product C over time t is
∆t
• Instantaneous rate of reaction
∆[C] d[C]
lim =
∆t→o ∆t dt

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 12 / 21
 • As reaction takes place, [C] increases but [A], [B] decrease so

d[C] d[A] d[B]

> 0, − > 0, − >0
dt dt dt
• We have that [A], [B] decrease the same rate at which [C] increases so

d[C] d[A] d[B]

=− =−
dt dt dt

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 13 / 21
 Example

For a reaction of the form A + B −→ C. If [C] = akt

Find the rate of reaction at time t.
Solution: Here, all we do is differentiate.
So we get
d[C]
= ak
dt

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 14 / 21
 Application in Biology

• Let n = f (t) be the population of a species of animal or plant at time

t. The change in population size between time t1 and t2 is

∆n = f (t2 ) − f (t1 )

• Average rate of growth is given by

∆n f (t2 ) − f (t1 )
=
∆t t2 − t1
• Instantaneous rate of growth is

∆n dn
lim =
∆t→0 ∆t dt

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 15 / 21
 Example
P
The Law of laminar flow is given by ν = (R2 − r2 ), where η is the
4ηl
viscosity of blood, P is the pressure difference between the ends of the
tube of artery, ν is the velocity of the blood with radius R and length l
Here the average rate of change in velocity from r1 to r2 is given by

∆ν ν(r2 ) − ν(r1 )
=
∆r r2 − r1
dν
is the velocity gradient. Here,
dr
dν P
= (R2 − 2r)
dr 4ηl

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 16 / 21
 Application in Economics

• Suppose C(x) is the total cost a company incurs when producing x

units of a commodity where C is the cost function. We use
differentiation to find the marginal cost because the level of
production is usually huge.
∆C C(x2 ) − C(x1 )
• = is the average rate of change of the cost
∆x x2 − x1
when production is increased from x1 units to x2 units of commodity.
• Marginal cost is
∆C dC
lim =
∆x→0 ∆x dx

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 17 / 21
 Example

1 Suppose C(x) = 10000 + 5x + 0.01x2

C 0 (x) = 5 + 0.02x

The marginal cost of producing 500 items is C 0 (500) = 15/item

Actual cost of producing the the 501st item is

C[(501) − (500)] = [10000 + 5(501) + 0.01(501)2 ]−

[10000 + 5(500) + 0.01(500)2 ]

= 15.01

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 18 / 21
 Application in other sciences

• In Psychology, it is used to see the rate at which performance

improves over time. So if P(t) is the performance of a student at time
dP (t)
t, then is the rate at which a students performance changes.
dt
• In Sociology, it is used in analyzing the spread of rumors. Let P (t)
denote the percentage of population that knows a rumor by time t.
dP
Then the rate at which a rumor is spread is
dt

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 19 / 21
 Practice Questions

(1) The position function of particle is given by s = t3 − 4.5t2 − 7t, ≥ 0.

When does the particle reach a velocity of 5m/s?
(2) If a stone is thrown vertically upward with a velocity of 80ft/s, then
its height after t seconds is s = 80t − 16t2 . (a) What is the maximum
height reached by the ball?
(b) What is the velocity of the ball when it is 96ft above the ground
on its way up? On its way down?
(3) The quantity charge Q in coulombs(C) that has passed through a
point in a wir up to time t(measured in seconds) is given by
Q(t) = t3 − 2t2 + 6t + 2. Find the current when (a)t=0.5 (b)t=1.
At what time is the current the lowest?

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 20 / 21
 a2 kt
(4) If [C] = , where k is a constant.
akt + 1
(a) Find the rate of reaction at time t.
dx
(b) Show that if x=[C], then = k(a − x)2
dt
(5) Suppose that the cost for a company to produce x pairs of a new line
of jeans is C(x) = 2000 + 3x + 0.01x2 + 0.0002x3
(a) Find the marginal cost function
(b) Find C’(100) and explain its meaning.
(c) Compare C’(100) with the cost of manufacturing the 101st pair of
jeans.

MATH 101 (Department of Mathematics University of Ghana)

Rate Of Change First Semester, 2021 21 / 21