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Raising a new Generation of Leaders

MAT121
Applications of Differentiation

O.O. AGBOOLA
Applications of Differentiation
1. Velocity and Acceleration

2. Tangent and Normal

3. Maxima and Minima

4. Rate of Change of Quantities

2
 Velocity and Acceleration
• Definition: Velocity
Velocity is the rate of change of displacement
with respect to time.
If ‘s’ denotes the displacement, and ‘t’ denotes the
time, then the velocity, denoted by v, is
ds
v
dt
3
 Velocity and Acceleration
• Definition: Acceleration
Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with
respect to time. It is denoted by ‘a’.
The acceleration, a is given by
dv d  ds  d s 2
a    2
dt dt  dt  dt
4
Example
The distance ‘s’ travelled by a particle in t
seconds is given by s(t) = 4t3 – 5t + 6. Find the
velocity and acceleration at the end of 10
seconds.
Note: s is the distance from the starting point, in
metres, and t is in seconds.

5
 Solution
• The velocity and acceleration of the particle
after t seconds are obtained as:
v(t )  s(t )  12t 2  5
a(t )  v(t )  s(t )  24t

• After t = 10 seconds, we have

v(10)  12(102 )  5  1195 m/s
a(10)  24(10)  240 m/s 2

6
 Try this
• The distance ‘s’ in metres travelled by a
body in t secs is given by s(t) = t3 – 6t2 + 12t.
Find the time t when the velocity becomes zero.

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 Try this
• If s(t) = 2t3 – 3t2 + 1. Find the velocity and
acceleration after t = 4 seconds.

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 Try this
• If the distance travelled by a particle is s(t)
= 8 cos 2t + 4 sin t, find its initial velocity.

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 Equations of Tangent and Normal
• Remember, the tangent to a
curve at a point is a straight line
that just touches the curve at
that point.
• The normal to a curve at a point
is a straight line that is
perpendicular to the tangent at
that point.
• We can use differentiation to find
the equations of the tangent and
the normal to a curve at a given
point.
 Equation of a tangent to a curve
• Since the tangent to a curve at a point is a
straight line, so the equation of the tangent to a
curve y  f ( x) at the point ( x0 , y0 ) will be obtained
using
y  y0
 f ( x0 )
x  x0

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 Equation of a normal to a curve
• The equation of the normal to a curve y  f ( x) at
the point ( x0 , y0 ) is given by
y  y0 1
 , provided f ( x0 )  0
x  x0 f ( x0 )
• Remember, if two lines are perpendicular, the
product of their gradients is -1.

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 Example
• Find the equations of the (a) tangent and (b)
normal to the curve y  x  3x  x  1 at the point
3 2

(3, 2).

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• Exam Tip: A very common error is for
students to accidentally forget whether the
question is asking for the tangent or for the
normal.

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 Example
• Find the equations of the (a) tangent and (b)
1
normal to the curve y  x  at x  2.
x

15
 Try this.
• Find the equations of the (a) tangent and (b)
normal to the curve x  2 y  3 at the point (1,1).
2 2

x  2y 3  0
2x  y 1  0
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 Try these.
• Find the equations of the (a) tangent and (b)
normal to the curve
 (i) y  x3  x 2  x  1 at x  2
 (ii) x  xy  y  7 at (1, 2)
2 2

 (iii) y  5  2 x  3x at the point (2, 11)

2

x 8
 (iv) y  2 at x  2
x 3 1
 (v) y  2 x  5x  4 at x  1 and x  1
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 Maxima and Minima
• Increasing and decreasing functions
 A function y  f ( x) is said to be an increasing
function if the value of y increases as x increases.
A function is said to be increasing when its gradient
is positive.
dy
So: A function y = f(x) is increasing if  0.
dx

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 Maxima and Minima
• Increasing and decreasing functions
 A function y  f ( x) is said to be decreasing if the
value of y decreases as x increases.
A function is said to be decreasing when its
gradient is negative.
dy
So: A function y = f(x) is decreasing if  0.
dx

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 Example
• Is the function f(x) = x3 – 6x2 + 2 increasing or
decreasing at the point where x = 3?

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 Example
• Is the function f(x) = x3 – 6x2 + 2 increasing or
decreasing at the point where x = 3?
f ′(x) = 3x2 – 12x

f ′(3) = 3(3)2 – 12(3) = 27 – 36 = -9

• The gradient is negative, so the function is

decreasing.

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• Of course, a function may be increasing in some
places and decreasing in others.
• A point where a function changes from an
increasing to a decreasing function or vice-
versa is known as a turning point.
• A turning point is a type of stationary point.

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 Stationary points
• Stationary points are the points on a graph where the
gradient is zero.
• There are 3 types of stationary points:
 (i) Maximum points
 (ii) Minimum points and
 (iii) Points of inflection (inflexion)
Maximum and minimum stationary points are often called turning points
because the curve turns as its gradient changes from positive to negative
or from negative to positive.

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Illustration

24
Illustration

25
 Using second order derivatives
• Differentiating a function y = f(x) gives us the
derivative dy
or f ( x )
dx
• Differentiating the function a second time gives
us the second order derivative. This can be
written as 2
d y
2
or f ( x)
dx
26
 Using second order derivatives
• The second derivative can be used as an easier
way of determining the nature of stationary
points (whether they are maximum points,
minimum points or points of inflection)

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 Stationary Points
• A stationary point on a curve occurs when
dy
 0.
dx
• Once you have established where there is a
stationary point, the type of stationary point
(max, min or point of inflection) can be
determined using the second derivative.
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 Example
• Find the stationary point of the function
y  5 x  8.
3

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 Solution
• Given
dy
y  5x  8 
3
 15 x 2

dx dy
• At stationary points, 0
dx

• Thus, 15 x  0  x  0
2

• When x  0, y  5(0)  8  8
3

(0,8) is the required stationary point.

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 Example
• The stationary point of y  x  32 x is (2,−48).
4

Use the second derivative to classify this

stationary point.

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Solution

32
 Basic Steps for Maxima and minima problems
1. Determine the derivative.
2. Set the derivative to 0 and solve for values that satisfy the
equation.
3. Determine the second derivative.
(a) If second derivative > 0, point is a minimum.
(b) If second derivative < 0, point is a maximum.
(c) If second derivative = 0, then it could be a maximum,
minimum or point of inflexion. Then you must test the
values of dy on either side of the stationary point.
dx
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Example
• Find the maximum and minimum values of the
function y  x  12 x  11.
3

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Example
• Find the maximum and minimum values of the
function y  x  12 x  11.
3

• Solution
• Given y  x3  12 x  11
dy dy
 3 x  12;
2
 0  3 x  12  0
2
dx dx
 3 x  12  0  x  2,2
2

35
Solution
2
d y
2
 6 x
dx
2
d y
When x  2, 2  6( 2)  12  0
dx
 x  2 is a maximum point.
Put x  2 in the function to have
y( 2)  ( 2)  12( 2)  11  27
3

So, the maximum value is 27.

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Solution
2
d y
2
 6 x
dx
2
d y
When x  2, 2  6(2)  12  0
dx
 x  2 is a minimum point.
Put x  2 in the function to get
y(2)  2  12(2)  11  5
3

So, the maximum value is -5.

37
Try this
• Find the maximum and minimum values of
y  2 x  15 x  36 x  18.
3 2

38
Solution
• Maximum value = 46

• Minimum value = 45

39
Exercise
• Find the maximum and the minimum values of
y  ( x  1) ( x  2).
2

40
Solution
• Minimum value = -4/27

• Maximum value = 0

41
 Exercise
• Find the maximum point of the function
yx x .
3 2

ANS: -2
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 Test Your Understanding
• Find two numbers whose sum is 10 and whose
product is maximum.

• Find two positive numbers whose product is 100

and whose sum is minimum.

43
 Test Your Understanding
• Suppose the amount of water in a holding tank
at time t is given by v(t) = 2t2 – 16t + 35.
 Determine:
‒ (a) if the volume of water in the tank is increasing or
decreasing at time t = 1 minute.
‒ (b) if the volume of water in the tank is increasing or
decreasing at time t = 5 minutes.
‒(c) time at which the volume of the water is not
changing.
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 Rates of Change of Quantities
• Differentiation is used for calculating the rate of
change associated with different quantities
• We’ll learn how to compute the rate of change of
one quantity in terms of that of another quantity.
• The changes are with respect to time parameter (t)
• The Chain rule of differentiation is applied.

45
 Example
• Suppose the radius (r) of a circle is 3 cm at a
certain instant, and it is increasing at the rate of
0.5 cm/s. At what rate will the area (A) be
increasing at that instant?

46
 Solution
• The key thing to remember is that rates of change
are derivatives.
• In this problem, the radius and the area are
both functions of the time t.
• The rate of increase of the radius (r) with respect
to time is the derivative dr/dt.
• The rate of increase of the area (A) is dA/dt.

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• To connect dA/dt and dr/dt, first we relate A and
r by the formula for the area of a circle:
A r 2

• To use the given information, we differentiate

each side of the equation with respect to t.
dA dA dr dr
  2 r
dt dr dt dt
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 dr
• It is given that r = 3 cm and  0.5 cm / s .
dt

• Thus, dA dr
 2 r
dt dt
 2 (3 cm)(0.5 cm / s)  3 cm / s
2

2
The area (A) of the circle is increasing at the rate of 3 cm / s.

49
 Try this
• At what rate is the area (A) of a circle
decreasing when its radius (r) is 4 cm, and
decreasing at the rate of 0.2 cm/s?

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Solution
• ANS

1.6 cm / s
2

51
 Try this.
• When the circumference (C) of a circle is 250
mm, the radius (r) is increasing at the rate of 5
mm/s. Find the rate at which the area of the
circle is increasing.

52
 Exercise
• The radius of a hemisphere is increasing at the
steady rate of 0.02 m/s. When the plane surface
area (i.e. circular face) is increasing at 0.04 m / s,
2

calculate in terms of  :
 (i) the radius (r);
 (ii) the rate of increase of the volume.
2 2
Hint: V   r
3 53
 Exercise
• Air is being pumped into a spherical balloon so
that its volume increases at a rate of
100 cm3/s. How fast is the radius of the balloon
increasing when the diameter is 50 cm?

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 Answer
• The radius of the balloon is increasing at the
rate of 1/(25π) ≈ 0.0127 cm/s.

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 Further Practice Exercise
• A sphere is expanding in such a way that its
volume is increasing at a uniform rate of 1cm3 / s.
Calculate the rate of increase of its radius, when
the radius is 5cm .
• At what rate is the area of a circle decreasing
when its radius is 4 cm, and decreasing at the
1
rate of 0.2cms ?
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