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Math Year 11 Extension Conclusion
Math Year 11 Extension Conclusion
Road to
1.2.1. Definitions
1.2.2. Rules of continuity
1.2.3. Composition function
PART 3. L'HOSPITAL
FORMULA
Part 4. Conclusion
Calculus Introduction
Calculus is a branch of mathematics that deals with the study of rates of change and
accumulation, and it has a rich and fascinating history dating back to ancient times. The
development of calculus is often attributed to two great mathematicians, Sir Isaac Newton,
and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who independently discovered the fundamental concepts of
calculus in the late seventeenth century.
However, the origins of calculus can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, who were
interested in solving problems related to areas and volumes. The Greeks used methods of
exhaustion, which involved dividing a shape into smaller and smaller parts until the area or
volume could be approximated with great accuracy. These methods were further developed
by Archimedes, who used them to find the areas of circles and the volumes of spheres and
cylinders.
During the medieval period, Islamic mathematicians such as al-Khwarizmi and Al-Haytham
made significant contributions to the development of algebra, which would later become a
crucial tool in calculus. The work of these mathematicians was transmitted to Europe through
the Arabic translations of Greek works.
The Renaissance period saw a renewed interest in mathematics, and it was during this time
that the concepts of limits and infinitesimals, which are central to calculus, began to take
shape. The Italian mathematician and astronomer, Galileo Galilei, was one of the first to use
the concept of infinitesimals in the early seventeenth century, and he used them to study the
motion of objects.
However, it was the work of Newton and Leibniz that revolutionized calculus and laid the
foundation for modern mathematics. Newton developed the concept of calculus as a tool for
studying the motion of objects, while Leibniz approached calculus as a way to study the
properties of functions. Both mathematicians developed the fundamental concepts of
calculus independently, and their methods were not always logically sound.
It was not until the nineteenth century that mathematicians such as Augustin-Louis Cauchy,
Karl Weierstrass, and Bernard Riemann rigorously justified the methods of calculus by
reformulating it in terms of limits rather than infinitesimals. This development allowed
mathematicians to better understand and extend the results of calculus and paved the way
for the development of modern analysis.
The concept of differentiation is a fundamental part of calculus, and it refers to the process of
finding the rate at which a quantity changes. Differentiation is used to solve a wide range of
problems in physics, engineering, and economics, such as finding the velocity of a moving
object or the rate at which a function is increasing or decreasing. The history of differentiation
can be traced back to the work of Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who
independently developed the fundamental concepts of calculus in the late seventeenth
century.
Newton developed the concept of differentiation as a tool for studying the motion of objects,
while Leibniz approached differentiation as a way to study the properties of functions. Both
mathematicians developed the fundamental concepts of differentiation independently, and
their methods were not always logically sound. However, it was not until the nineteenth
century that mathematicians such as Augustin-Louis Cauchy, Karl Weierstrass, and Bernard
Riemann rigorously justified the methods of differentiation by reformulating it in terms of
limits rather than infinitesimals.
Today, differentiation is a fundamental tool in mathematics and science, and it continues to
be an important area of research and development. The concept of differentiation is essential
for understanding the behavior of functions and their rates of change, and it is used in a wide
range of applications, from modeling natural phenomena to optimizing complex systems.
Part 1. LIMIT AND CONTINUITY
1.1. LIMIT
1.1.1. Intuitive definition of a Limits
Definition 1: Limit
Suppose 𝑓(𝑥) is defined when 𝑥 is near the number 𝑎.
(This means that 𝑓 is defined on some open interval that contains 𝑎, except possibly at itself).
Then we can write that:
lim 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝐿
𝑥→𝑎
If we can make the values of 𝑓(𝑥) arbitrarily close to 𝐿 (as close to 𝐿 as we like) by restricting 𝑥
to be sufficiently close to 𝑎 (on either side of “𝑎”) but not equal to “𝑎”
Roughly speaking, this says that the values of 𝑓(𝑥) approach 𝐿 as 𝑥 approaches 𝑎. In other words,
the values of 𝑓(𝑥) tend to get closer and closer to the number 𝐿 as 𝑥 gets closer and closer to the
number 𝑎 (from either side of 𝑎) but 𝑥 ≠ 𝑎.
Notice the phrase “but 𝑥 ≠ 𝑎” in the definition of limit. This means that in finding the limit of
𝑓(𝑥) as 𝑥 approaches 𝑎, we never consider 𝑥 = 𝑎. In fact, 𝑓(𝑥) need not even be defined when
𝑥 = 𝑎. The only thing that matters is how 𝑓 is defined near 𝑎.
Figure 1 shows the graphs of three functions. Note that in part (𝑐), 𝑓(𝑎) sad is not defined and
in part (𝑏), 𝑓(𝑥) ≠ 𝐿. But in each case, regardless of what happens at 𝑎, it is true that
lim 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝐿
𝑥→𝑎
𝑥−1
Example 1: Find the value of: lim 𝑥 2−1
𝑥→1
(𝑥−1)
Solution : always notice that the function 𝑓(𝑥) = is not defined when 𝑥 = 1, but that does
(𝑥 2 −1)
not matter because the definition of lim 𝑓(𝑥) says that we consider values of 𝑥 that are close to
𝑥→𝑎
𝑎 but not equal to 𝑎.
𝑥−1
lim
𝑥→1 (𝑥 + 1)(𝑥 − 1)
1 1
lim =
𝑥→1 (𝑥 + 1) 2
√𝑡 2 +9 − 3
Example 2: Estimate the value of lim
𝑡→0 𝑡2
Solution:
(√𝑡 2 + 9 − 3)(√𝑡 2 + 9 + 3)
lim
𝑡→0 𝑡 2 (√𝑡 2 + 9 + 3)
𝑡2 + 9 − 9
= lim
𝑡→0 𝑡 2 (√𝑡 2 + 9 + 3)
𝑡2
= lim
𝑡→0 𝑡 2 (√𝑡 2 + 9 + 3)
1
= lim
𝑡→0 (√𝑡 2 + 9 + 3)
𝟏 𝟏
= =
√𝟗 + 𝟑 𝟔
And say the left-hand limit of 𝑓(𝑥) as 𝑥 approaches 𝑎 ( or the limit of 𝑓(𝑥) as 𝑥 approaches a
from the left) is equal to 𝐿 if we can make the value of 𝑓(𝑥) arbitrarily close to 𝐿 by taking 𝑥 to
be sufficiently close to 𝑎 with 𝑥 less than 𝑎.
Notice that Definition 2 differs from Definition 1 only in that we require 𝑥 to be less than 𝑎.
Similarly, if we require that 𝑥 be greater than 𝑎, we get the right-hand limit of 𝑓(𝑥) as 𝑥
approaches 𝑎 is equal to L” and we write:
lim 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝐿
𝑥→𝑎+
Example 1:
If we use the Product Law repeatedly with 𝑔(𝑥) = 𝑓(𝑥), we can obtain the following law
If we now put 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 in law 6 and use law 8, we get another useful special limit.
The definition says that 𝑓 is continuous at 𝑎 if 𝑓(𝑥) approaches 𝑓 sad as 𝑥 approaches 𝑎. Thus,
a continuous function f has the property that a small change in 𝑥 produces only a small change
in 𝑓(𝑥). In fact, the change in 𝑓(𝑥) can be kept as small as we please by keeping the change in
𝑥 sufficiently small.
B. Discontinuity
If 𝑓 is defined near a (in other words, 𝑓 is defined on an open interval containing 𝑎, except
perhaps at 𝑎), we say that 𝑓 is discontinuous at 𝑎 (or 𝑓 has a discontinuity at a) if f is not
continuous at 𝑎.
𝒙 + 𝟑 , 𝒊𝒇 𝒙 ≤ −𝟏
𝒇(𝒙) = { 𝒙
𝟐 , 𝒊𝒇 𝒙 > −𝟏
III) vertical asymptote:
Iv) oscillating
E. Continuity on an interval
Definition: A function 𝑓 is continuous on an interval if it is continuous at every number in the
interval. (If 𝑓 is defined only on one side of an endpoint of the interval, we understand
continuous at the endpoint to mean continuous from the right or continuous from the left.)
II) Theorem 2:
(a) Any polynomial is continuous everywhere; that is, it is continuous on ℝ = (−∞; ∞)
(b) Any rational function is continuous wherever it is defined; that is, it is continuous on its
domain.
𝟏
Example 2: Discontinuty of 𝒚 = |𝒇(𝒙)|
PART 2. DERIVATIVE AND DIFFERENTIATION
2.1. TANGENT
a) The tangent line to the curve 𝑦 = 𝑓 (𝑥) at the point 𝑃(𝑎, 𝑓(𝑎)) is the line through 𝑃 with
slope:
𝑓(𝑥) − 𝑓(𝑎)
𝑚 = lim
x→a x −a
There is another expression for the slope of a tangent line that is sometimes easier to use.
If ℎ = 𝑥 − 𝑎, then 𝑥 = 𝑎 + ℎ and so the slope of the secant line PQ is
𝑓(𝑎 + ℎ) − 𝑓(𝑎)
𝑚𝑃𝑄 =
ℎ
𝑓(𝑎 + ℎ) − 𝑓(𝑎)
𝑚 = lim
ℎ→0 ℎ
2.2. VELOCITIES
In general, suppose an object moves along a straight line according to a equation of motion 𝑠 =
𝑓(𝑡),where s is the displacement (directed distance) of the object from the origin at time t. The
function f that describes the motion is called the position function of the object. In the time
interval from t = a to t = a + h the change in position is 𝑓(𝑎 + ℎ) − 𝑓(𝑎).
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓(𝑎+ℎ)−𝑓(𝑎)
Average velocity = =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 ℎ
Now suppose we compute the average velocities over shorter and shorter time intervals, [𝒂, 𝒂 +
𝒉]. in other words, we let 𝒉 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝟎. As in the example of the falling ball, we define the
velocity ( or instantaneous velocity) 𝒗(𝒂) at the time t=a to be the limit of these average
velocities:
𝑓(𝑎 + ℎ) − 𝑓(𝑎)
𝑣(𝑎) = lim
ℎ→0 ℎ
This means that the velocity at the time 𝑡 = 𝑎 is equal to the slope of the tangent line at P.
2.3. DERIVATIVES
𝑓(𝑎 + ℎ) − 𝑓(𝑎)
𝑓 ′ (𝑎) = lim
ℎ→0 ℎ
𝑓(𝑥) − 𝑓(𝑎)
𝑓 ′ (𝑎) = lim
ℎ→0 𝑥 − 𝑎
We defined the tangent line to the curve 𝑦 = 𝑓(𝑥)at the point 𝑃(𝑎, 𝑓(𝑎)) to be the line that
passes through P and has the slope m given by equation 1 or 2. Since this is the same as derivative
𝑓 ′ (𝑥), we can now say the following:
The tangent line to y − f (x) at (a, f (a)) is the line through (a, f (a)) whose slope is equal to f ‘(a),
the derivative of 𝑓 at 𝑎.
If we use the point-slope form of the equation of a line, we can write an equation of the tangent
line to the curve 𝑦 = 𝑓(𝑥) at a point (𝑎, 𝑓(𝑎)):
𝑦 − 𝑓(𝑎) = 𝑓 ′ (𝑎)(𝑥 − 𝑎)
* Rates of change
Suppose 𝒚 is a quantity that depends on another quantity 𝒙. Thus 𝒚 is a function of 𝒙 and we
write 𝒚 = 𝒇(𝒙). if x changes from 𝒙𝟏 to 𝒙𝟐 . Then the change in 𝒙 (also called the increment of x)
is:
∆𝒙 = 𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏
And the corresponding change in 𝒚 is:
∆𝒙 = 𝒇(𝒙𝟐 ) − 𝒇(𝒙𝟏 )
The difference quotient
𝚫𝒚 𝒇(𝒙𝟐 ) − 𝒇(𝒙𝟏 )
=
𝚫𝒙 𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏
Is called the average rate of change of y with respect to x over the interval [𝑥1 ; 𝑥2 ]
By analogy with velocity, we consider the average rate of change over smaller and smaller
intervals by letting x2 approach x1 and therefore letting ∆𝒙 approach 0. The limit of these
average rates of change is called the (instantaneous) rate of change of y with respect to x at x =
𝒙𝟏 , which (as in the case of velocity) is interpreted as the slope of the tangent to the curve 𝒚 =
𝒇(𝒙) 𝒂𝒕𝑷(𝒙𝟏 , 𝒇(𝒙𝟏 )):
𝚫𝒚 𝒇(𝒙𝟐 ) − 𝒇(𝒙𝟏 )
𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 = 𝐥𝐢𝐦 = 𝐥𝐢𝐦
∆𝒙→𝟎 𝚫𝒙 𝒙𝟐 →𝒙𝟏 𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏
Another inteepretation of the derivative 𝒇′ (𝒂) is as the slope of the tangent line to the curve
𝒚 = 𝒇(𝒙) when 𝒙 = 𝒂. we now have a second interpretation:
The derivative 𝒇′ (𝒂) is the instantaneous rate of change of 𝒚 = 𝒇(𝒙) with respect to 𝒙 when
𝒙 = 𝒂.
In motion, if 𝒔 = 𝒇(𝒕) is the position function of a particle that moves along a straight line, then
𝒇’(𝒂) is the velocity of the particle at time 𝒕 = 𝒂. the speed of the particle is the absolute value
of the velocity, that is, |𝒇’(𝒂)|.
2.3.2. Other notations and theorems
Given 𝒚 = 𝒇(𝒙)
The symbols 𝑫 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅/𝒅𝒙 are called differentiation operators because they indicate the
operation of differentiation, which is the process of calculating a derivative.
Example 2:
:
Example 3: Find the value of 𝒂 and/ or 𝒃(𝒂 ≠ 𝟎), if they exist, such that 𝒇 is differentiable for
all the value of 𝒙.
2.4. DIFFERENTIATION RULES
Constant rule: (𝒄)′ = 𝟎
′
Chain rule: [𝒇(𝒈(𝒙))] = 𝒇′ (𝒈(𝒙)). 𝒈′ (𝒙)
Exponential functions:
(𝒆𝒙 )′ = 𝒆𝒙
′
(𝒆𝒂𝒙+𝒃 ) = 𝒂𝒆𝒂𝒙+𝒃
Logarithmic functions:
𝟏
(𝐥𝐧 𝒙)′ =
𝒙
𝒂
[𝐥𝐧(𝒂𝒙 + 𝒃)]′ =
𝒂𝒙 + 𝒃
𝒇′ (𝒙)
′
[𝐥𝐧(𝒇(𝒙)] =
𝒇(𝒙)
Trigonometric functions:
d) e)
2.5. GRAPHS OF FUNCTIONS AND DERIVATIVES
The derivative is the slope of the tangent line.
When the function is increasing the slope is positive
When the function is decreasing the slope is negative
When f(x) is at a max or min, there is a horizontal tangent line!
Example 1:
*The third derivative 𝒇′′′ is the derivative of the second derivative: 𝒇′′′ = (𝒇′′ )′ . so 𝒇′′′ (𝒙)can be
interpreted as the slope of the curve 𝒚 = 𝒇′′ (𝒙)or as the rate of change of 𝒇’’(𝒙). 𝒊𝒇 𝒚 = 𝒇(𝒙),
then alternative annotations for the third derivative are
Some extensive examples of finding derivatives, higher derivative and their applications below:
Example 2: Write the equation of the tangent line or normal line at a point on the graph
b)
PART 3. L’ HOSPITAL FORMULA
L’Hospital’s rule: suppose 𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈 are differentiable and 𝒈′ (𝒙) ≠ 𝟎 on an open interval 𝑰 that
contains 𝒂 ( except possibly at 𝒂). Suppose that:
Notes: L’Hospital’s rule says that the limits of a quotient of functions is equal to the limit of the
quotient of their derivative, provided that the given conditions are satisfied.
Example 2.
Example 3.
Part 4. Conclusion
In conclusion, my learning journal on limit and derivative has been a rewarding experience that
has deepened my understanding of these fundamental concepts in calculus. Through my studies,
I have come to appreciate the importance of limits in calculus, and how they provide a rigorous
and precise way of understanding the behavior of functions.
The concept of derivatives, which involves finding the rate at which a quantity changes, has been
a central focus of my learning, and I have gained a deeper understanding of how derivatives are
used in a wide range of fields, from physics and engineering to economics and computer science.
My studies have also highlighted the importance of rigor and precision in calculus, and how the
use of limits and other mathematical tools can help us develop a deeper understanding of the
behavior of functions and their rates of change. I have come to appreciate the power of calculus
as a tool for modeling and understanding complex systems, and I look forward to further
exploring the many applications of these fundamental concepts in my future studies.
Overall, my learning journal on limit and derivative has been a valuable experience that has
deepened my understanding of these crucial concepts in calculus. I am grateful for the
opportunity to have explored these ideas in-depth, and I look forward to continuing my studies
in mathematics and science.