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Name:_______________________ Date assigned:______________ Band:________

Calculus | Packer Collegiate Institute

Introduction to Simple Properties of Derivatives


Section 1: The obvious and the non-obvious

1. Use Wolfram|Alpha to find the derivative. Even if you think you know the derivative, use the program.

(a)
7
( ) 2 f x x =


(b)
7
( ) 5 f x x = (c)
7
( ) 1.11 f x x =
(d)
11
( ) 8 h x x = (e)
11
( ) h x h = (f)
11
( ) 2.3 h x x =



2. Use Wolfram|Alpha to find the derivative. Even if you think you know the derivative, use the program.

(a)
3 2
( ) j x x x = +


(b)
3 2
3 ( ) 4 j x x x = (c)
3 2
( ) 12 2 j x x x =

3. For the following, first make an educated guess the derivative of all four functions below .
Then, after you make your guess, use Wolfram|Alpha to find the derivative of all four functions.

(a)
3 2
( ) k x x x =

Guess:_________________________

W|A:__________________________

(b)
( )( )
2 2 4
( ) 2 4 3 k x x x x = + +

Guess:_________________________

W|A:__________________________

(c)
6
2
( )
x
k x
x
=

Guess:_________________________

W|A:__________________________

(d)
3 2
2
3
( )
2 1
x x
k x
x
+
=
+


Guess:_________________________

W|A:__________________________


The important mathematical conclusion:








2
Section 2: WHY?

You have seen from Wolfram|Alpha that we can easily find the derivatives of simple functions like
7
( ) 5 f x x =
and
7
( ) 2 g x x = . You know what were aiming for: deep understanding. So youre going to investigate why this
works.

As usual, well start simple. Lets investigate
2
( ) a x x = ,
2
( ) 2 b x x = ,
2
1
( )
2
c x x = , and
( )
2
( ) d x x = . The e

2
( ) a x x =

2
( ) 2 b x x =

2
1
( )
2
c x x =

( )
2
( ) d x x =

What does the coefficient in front of the
( )
2
x part of the equation do? How does it transform the parent
function?

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
x
y
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
x
y
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
x
y
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
x
y

3
Now lets look at the derivative of these functions at 1 x = :


If you were to draw the tangent lines to
each of these four functions at 1 x = , what
do you notice about the slopes of these
tangent lines?









Does this make sense based on your
graphical understanding of what the
coefficient in front of the
2
( ) x does to the
parent graph?




Now were going to look at this algebraically:

2 2
2 2 2
0
0
0
0
2
0
2 )
( ) ( )
'( ) lim
( ) ( )
( )
lim
2
lim
(2 )
lim
lim(2 )
(
2
h
h
h
h
h
x h x
a
x
x
x h x
x
h
xh h
h
h x h
h
x h
h x
x
h

+ +
+
=
+
=
= +
=
+
=
=
+

2
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2 2 2
2 2 2
2
2( ) 2( )
'( ) lim
( ) ( )
2( )
lim
(2 )
lim
4 2
lim
(4 2 )
lim
lim(4 2 )
2 ) 2(
4
4
2 ) (2
h
h
h
h
h
h
x h x
b x
x h x
x
h
x
h
xh h
h
h x h
xh h x
xh h x
h
x h
x

+ +
=
+ +
=
=
=
=
+
=
+
+
+
+
=

0
0
0
2 2
2 2 2
2 2 2
2
0
0
0
0.5( ) 0.5( )
'( ) lim
( ) ( )
0.5( )
lim
(0.5 )
lim
0.5
lim
( 0.5 )
li
2 ) 0.5(
m
lim( 0.5 )
0.5 ) (0.5
h
h
h
h
h
h
x h x
c x
x h x
x
h
x
h
xh h
h
h x h
h
x
xh h x
xh h
x
x
h

+
=
+ +
=
+ +
=
=
=

+
+ =
+
+
=


We learned from Wolfram|Alpha that the second term in the binomial expansion is the most important (all the
other terms disappear). Circle all the terms above that involve the second term in the expansion. (The first
one has been done for you.)

Algebraically, we see that a coefficient in front of the parent function
2
( ) a x x = affects the derivative. How?



5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5
1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
x
y
b(x)=2x^2
a(x)=x^2
c(x)=1/2 x^2
d(x)=-x^2

4
Terminology: We conclude from a graphical and algebraic investigation this that [ ( )] [ ( )] cf x c f
d d
dx dx
x = is true.
This is called the constant multiple rule for derivatives.


Section 3: Okay, now what?

Now lets see about adding these simple functions together. For example, we know from our initial
investigation that if
3 2
3 ( ) 4 j x x x = , then
2
'( ) 1 6 2 j x x x = . Why can we take the derivative of each individual
piece (
3
4x and
2
3x ) separately?

First, lets investigate this graphically. Im going to plot two simple functions separately, and then their sum.



Here are two functions plotted separately. Estimate:

(a)
(
'(0)
' 0) g
f ~
~



(b)
(
'(1)
' 1) g
f ~
~



(c)
(
'(2)
' 2) g
f ~
~



(d)
(
'(3)
' 3) g
f ~
~



Here the sum of the two functions ( ) ( ) ( ) h x f x g x = +
Is plotted. Estimate:

(a) '(0) h ~

(b) '(1) h ~

(c) '(2) h ~

(d) '(3) h ~

Do you see a connection between your answers here
and your answers in the box above?
4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4
4
3
2
1
1
2
3
4
x
y
f(x)
g(x)
4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4
4
3
2
1
1
2
3
4
x
y
h(x)

5
Now lets look at the sum of simple functions algebraically.

Let
4
( ) f x x = ,
2
( ) g x x = , and their sum
4 2
( ) ( ) ( ) h x f x g x x x + = + =

Lets find the derivative of ( ) h x :

0
0
4 2 4 2
4 4 2 2
4 4 2 2
4
0
4
0
( ) ]
]
Step 1:
]
St
[( ) ] [
'( ) lim
( ) ( )
[( ) ] [( )
lim
( ) ( )
[( ) ] [( )
lim
( ) (
ep 2:
Step 3:
) ( ) ( )
[( ) ]
lim
( ) (

)
h
h
h
h
x h x
h x
x h x
x h x x h x
x h x
x h x
x
x h x
x h x x h x
x h x
x
x h x
h

+
=
+
| | + + +
|
+
\ .
| | + +
=
|
+ +
\ .
+
+ + +
=
+

=
+
2
0
2
[( )
lim
( ) (
]
Step 4: '( ) ( )
)
'
h
x h x
x h
f x g x
x

+
+
+
+
=



(a) Explain whats happening from the starting step to Step 1:






(b) Explain whats happening from Step 1 to Step 2:





(c) Explain whats happening from Step 2 to Step 3: Answer: We are using a property of limits that we did
not emphasize: The limit of a sum is the same as the sum of the limits.

(d) Explain whats happening from Step 3 to Step 4:






Okay, this is a lot of algebra lets keep our eyes on the prize. What have we just evidenced?






6
Terminology: We conclude from a graphical and algebraic investigation this that
[ ( ) ( )] [ ( )] [ ( )]
d d d
dx dx dx
f x g x f x g x + = + is true. This is called the sum rule for derivatives. The derivative of a
sum of functions is equal to the derivative of the sums.


Section 4: Conclusion

These two rules (the constant multiple rule for derivatives and the sum rule for derivatives) together are
awesome because they allow us to take the derivative of:

7 4 3
( ) 5 2 2 4 1 Emi io x x x x x l + + =

'( ) Emilio x =

And through this investigation, we also have a sense of why the derivative is so easy to deal with.









Bonus challenge:

Take a moment and flip back through this packet. Do you think you can conclude that there is a product rule
for derivatives that looks like: [ ( ) ( )] [ ( )] [ ( )]
d d d
dx dx dx
f x g x f x g x = ? What would give you evidence in
support or against this being true?