HIGHER ORDER DERIVATIVES

LECTURE
BY

J.K.GONDWE

1 09/09/20
LECTURE OBJECTIVES

1. State the notation for higher derivatives

2. Compute higher order derivatives
3. Evaluate derivatives at a given point
4. Find velocity and acceleration

2 09/09/20
Higher order derivatives

The derivative f ( x) of a differentiable function f is

also a function . Assuming that this derivative, f ( x),
is still differentiable, we can find its derivative
- this is the second derivative of the function f

3 09/09/20
Stating notation for higher order
derivatives

Recall : For the function y  f(x)

dy
or f (x) or y  is the first derivative or
dx
the first differential.
d  dy 
Differentiating the first derivative i.e.  
dx  dx 
means differentiating w.r.t. x whatever appears
in the bracket

4 09/09/20
Cont’d

d  dy 
  gives the second derivative or second differential.
dx  dx 
d  dy 
For simplicity,   is written as
dx  dx 
d2y
2
 read as " d two y by dx squared "
dx
or f   read as f double dashed or f double dashed of x 
d2y
Note : the position of 2 in 2 has no algebraic significance
dx

5 09/09/20
Cont’d
d d2y
Likewise  2  gives the third derivative
dx  dx 
or third differential.
d d2y
For simplicity,  2  is written as
dx  dx 
d3y
3
or f 
dx
n
(n) th d f
f for n order derivative or
dx n
f (0) , the zeroth derivative, is the function itself (Special case)

6 09/09/20
Interpretation of derivatives

Note that the second, fourth, third etc can be

worked out.

The mathematics above continues to work, however

there is a limit in the physical interpretation.

7 09/09/20
 Example
2
If y  7 x  3 x  find an expression for
2

x
dy d2y
and
dx dx 2
2
y  7 x 2  3 x  and can be rewritten as
x
y  7 x 2  3 x  2 x 1
dy
 14 x  3  2 x  2
dx
d2y 3
 14  4 x
dx 2

8 09/09/20
Exercise

d2y
Find 2 for the curve y  ( 3  7 x)3 and hence its
dx
value where x  0.5

9 09/09/20
Meaning and use of dy/dx (differential
coefficients)
A comparative measure of the rate at which two connected
variables are changing eg time, distance , velocity and
acceleration
If a displacement S meters takes place in t seconds
then s is a function of t
i.e. s  f (t ) or s  F (t )
ds
Differentiating the above function gives a measure of the
dt
rate of change of displacement per unit time
(called the velocity, v)
ds
v  f (t )
dt

10 09/09/20
 ds
Further differentiation of dt

ds
A further differentiation of expresses a rate of change of
dt
velocity (m/s ) per unit time (t ), this is called acceleration (a)
i.e.

d
 ds 
dv
a dt   f  t   the second differentials of f  t  
dt dt
d 2s
also abbreviated as 2
dt

11 09/09/20
Example

A body moves a distance of s metres

in t seconds according to s  t - 3t .
3 2

Calculate its velocity after 3 seconds and

after 2 seconds.

12 09/09/20
Cont’d

s  t 3  3t 2
ds
velocity (v) 
dt
ds
v   3t 2  6t
dt
at t  3; v  3  3 2  6  3 and at t  2 ; v  3  2 2  6  2
 27  18  12 - 12
9m 0
sec

13 09/09/20
 PHYSICAL MEANING OF CRITICAL
VALUES =0
s  0; the body is at the starting point or it
has returned to it
v  0; the body has stopped, possibly momentarily
t  0; when applied in the velocity function it
measures the time at the beginning of the
period of the measurement (or the object has not
started moving)

14 09/09/20
Class exercise

1. If a body moves s m in t sec, and

2t 3 5t 2
s   3t
3 2
find  a  the times when the body will be stationary
 b  the distances from the starting point in (a) above

2. A particle moves s m in t sec;

and s  t 3  6t 2  8t. Calculate the velocity
each time it passes the starting point

15 09/09/20
Solutions to class exercise
1. (a) the particle will be stationary when v  o
3
i.e. after 1 second or seconds
2
7 3 9
(b) distance at t  1 is m and at t  is m
6 2 8

2. the particle passes the starting

point when s  0
i.e. at t  0 or t  2 or t  4
the velocity at t  0 is 8
 at t  2 is -4m/s..... the motion is in the opposite direction
 at t  4 is 8m/s.......the motion is in the original direction

16 09/09/20