Skip to content

Derivatives

At time \(t\), the derivative \(f'(t)\) or \(df/dt\) or \(v(t)\) is: \(\(\begin{equation} f'(t) = \lim_{\Delta_{t}\rightarrow{0}}\frac{f(t + \Delta_{t}) - f(t)}{\Delta{t}} \end{equation}\)\)

\[ \begin{equation} \frac{df}{dt} = \lim_{\Delta{t} \rightarrow 0} \frac{\Delta{f}}{\Delta{t}} \end{equation} \]

The derivative is a function, \(f'(x)\).


Power Rule

\(f(x) = x^{n}, n \neq 0\) \(\(f'(x) = n \cdot x^{n-1}\)\)

Examples:

\(f(x) = x^{2}\) \(f'(x) = 2x\)

\(h(x) = x^{-100}\) \(h'(x) = -100x^{-100-1} = -100x^{-101}\)

\(z(x) = x^{2.571}\) \(z'(x) = 2.571x^{1.571}\)

Basic Derivative Rules

\(\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} A = 0\) where \(A\) is a constant.

\(\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} A \cdot f(x) = A \frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} f(x) = A f'(x)\)

  • \(\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} [2x^{5}] = 2 \frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} [x^{5}] = 2 \cdot 5x^{4} = 10x^{4}\)

\(\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} [f(x) + g(x)] = f'(x) + g'(x)\)

  • \(\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} [ x^{3} + x^{-4}] = 3x^{2} - 4x^{-5}\)

Any polynomial

\(f(x) = 2x^{3} - 7x^{2} + 3x - 100\)

\(f'(x) = 2 \cdot 3x^{2} - 7 \cdot 2x + 3\) * \(f'(x) = 6x^{2} - 14x + 3\)


\(f(x) = x^{5} + 2x^{3} - x^{2}\)

  • \(\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}}f(x) = \frac{\partial}{\partial{x}}[ x^{5} + 2x^{3} - x^{2} ]\)

  • \(f'(x) = \frac{\partial}{\partial{x}}(x^{5}) + \frac{\partial}{\partial{x}}(2x^{3}) - \frac{\partial}{\partial{x}}(x^{2})\)

\(f'(x) = 5x^{4} + 6x^{2} - 2x\)

  • \(f'(2) = 5 \cdot 2^{4} + 6 \cdot 2^{2} - 4\)
  • \(f'(2) = 80 + 24 - 4 = 100\)

Sine & Cosine Derivatives

\[\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} [sin(x)] = cos(x)\]
\[\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} [cos(x)] = - sin(x)\]

Euler's Number

\[y = e^{x}\]
  • The slope of the tangent line to \(y=e^{x}\) is \(e^{x} = f'(x)\).

\(\ln (x)\)

\[\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} [\ln (x)] = \frac{1}{x}\]

Product Rule

\[\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}}[f(x) \cdot g(x)] = f'(x)g(x) + f(x)g'(x)\]

\(\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}}[x^{2} \sin{x}] = 2x \cdot \sin{x} + x^{2} \cdot \cos{x}\)


Chain Rule

\[\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} [f(g(x))] = f'(g(x)) \cdot g'(x)\]

\(h(x) = (\sin{x})^{2}\)

\(\frac{\partial}{\partial{(\sin{x})}} [(\sin{x})^2] = 2(\sin{x})\)

\(\frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} [\sin{x}] = \cos{x}\)

\[\frac{\partial{h}}{\partial{x}} = 2\sin{x} \cdot \cos{x}\]

Derivative of inner function times the derivative of outer function.