3.

9: Derivatives of Exponential and

Logarithmic Functions

Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

Photo by Vickie Kelly, 2007 Greg Kelly, Hanford High School, Richland, Washington
Look at the graph of ye x

The slope at x=0 If we assume this to

appears to be 1. be true, then:
0 h
e e 0
lim 1
h 0 h

definition of derivative


 Now we attempt to find a general formula for the
derivative of y  e using the definition.
x

d x e x h  e x  h
1 
dx
 e   lim
h 0 h
 e  lim 
x
h 0
e
h

 
e x  eh  e x
 lim
h 0 h This is the slope at x=0,
which we have assumed to
 x eh  1  be 1.
 lim  e  
h 0
 h   e x 1
 ex

d x
dx
 
e e x


 x
e is its own derivative!

If we incorporate the chain rule:

d u u du
e e
dx dx

x
We can now use this formula to find the derivative of a


d x
dx
a  
d ln a x
dx
e   ( e x
and ln x are inverse functions.)

d x ln a
dx
e  
d
e x ln a
  x ln a  (chain rule)
dx

d x
dx
a   e x ln a
 ln a

 ln
( lnaax is a constant.)
a
d ln a x
dx
e  
Incorporating the chain rule:
d x ln a
dx
e   d u du
d dx
 
a  a ln a
u

dx
e x ln a
  x ln a 
dx

So far today we have:

d u u du d du
e e
dx
 
a  a ln a
u u

dx
dx dx

Now it is relatively easy to find the derivative of ln x .


 y  ln x dy 1
 y
dx e
e xy

d y d
dx
 
e   x
dx
d
dx
ln x 
1
x
dy
ey
1 d 1 du
dx ln u 
dx u dx

 To find the derivative of a common log function, you
could just use the change of base rule for logs:

d d ln x 1 d 1 1
log x   ln x  
dx dx ln10 ln10 dx ln10 x
The formula for the derivative of a log of any base
other than e is:

d 1 du
log a u 
dx u ln a dx

d u u du d du
e e
dx
 
a  a ln a
u u

dx
dx dx

d 1 du d 1 du
ln u  log a u 
dx u dx dx u ln a dx