14.1 Differentials (1 of 4) 14.

1 Differentials (2 of 4)
Let y  f ( x) be a differentiable function of x, and let x
denote a change in x, where x can be any real number. Example 3 – Using the Differential to Estimate a Change
Then the differential of y , denoted by either dy or d ( f ( x)) in a Quantity
is given by dy  f ′  x  x A governmental health agency examined the records of a
group of individuals who were hospitalized with a particular
Example 1 – Computing a Differential illness. It was found that the total proportion P that are
Find the differential of y  x3  2 x 2  3 x  4, and evaluate it when discharged at the end of t days of hospitalization is given by
x  1 and x  0.04. 3
d 3  300 
Solution: dy 
dx
  
x  2 x 2  3 x  4  x  3 x 2  4 x  3 x  P  P  t   1  3 
  300  t  2 
When x  1 and x  0.04, dy  dy (1, 0.04)  
 (3(1)2  4(1)  3)(0.04)  0.08 Use differentials to approximate the change in the proportion
discharged if t changes from 300 to 305.
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14.1 Differentials (3 of 4)
14.1 Differentials (4 of 4)
Example 3 – Continued
Example 5 – Finding dp/dq from dq/dp
Solution:
dp
The change in t from 300 to 305 is t  dt  5. The change Find if q  2500  p 2 .
dq
in P is P  P(305)  P(300). We approximate P by dP :
dq 1
 300   300 
2
Solution: We have  (2500  p 2 )1/2 (2 p)
P » dP  P '(t)dt  3   dt dp 2
 300  t   (300  t)2 

p
300 3 300 2 
3 dt When t  300 and dt  5, dP  3 5 2500  p 2
 300  t 4 600 4
» 0.0031. For a comparison, the true value of P is dp 1 2500  p 2
Hence,  
P(305)  P(300)  0.00307 dq dq p
dp
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