3.

1 Derivatives
Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Colorado
Greg Kelly, Hanford High School, Richland, Washington Photo by Vickie Kelly, 2003
Definition: Let f be a function, and let a
be in the domain of f. If
exists, we say that the graph of f has a
tangent line at . In that case the
line tangent to the graph of f at
defined to be the line through with
this limit as slope.
Note: There is at most one line tangent to a
graph at a given point on the graph.



Derivatives

2
rtt
Let then a point slope
equation of the line tangent to the graph of f
at is given by



0
lim
h
f a h f a
h

is called the derivative of at . f
a
We write:


0
lim
h
f x h f x
f x
h

The derivative of f with respect to x is
There are many ways to write the derivative of
y f x

Examples
.
Dilla University
5
1. Find an equation of the line tangent to the sine
function at the indicated point
a.
b. at (0,0)
Definition: Let f be continuous at a point a. If
then we say that the graph of f has a vertical
tangent line at (a,f(a)). In that case the vertical
line is called the line tangent to the graph
of f at a.



) 0 , 1 ( 1 ) (
3
at x x f

f x

f prime x or
the derivative of f with respect
to x
y

y prime
dy
dx
dee why dee ecks
or
the derivative of y with
respect to x
df
dx
dee eff dee ecks
or
the derivative of f with
respect to x

d
f x
dx
dee dee ecks uv eff uv ecks or
the derivative
of f of x
( of of ) d dx f x

dx does not mean d times x !

dy does not mean d times y !

dy
dx
does not mean !
dy dx
(except when it is convenient to think of it as division.)
df
dx
does not mean !
df dx
(except when it is convenient to think of it as division.)

(except when it is convenient to treat it that way.)

d
f x
dx
does not mean times !
d
dx

f x

In the future, all will become clear.

0
1
2
3
4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

y f x
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

y f x

The derivative
is the slope of
the original
function.
The derivative is defined at the end points
of a function on a closed interval.

-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
-3 -2 -1 1 2 3
x
2
3 y x


2
2
0
3 3
lim
h
x h x
y
h

2 2 2
0
2
lim
h
x xh h x
y
h

2 y x

-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
-3 -2 -1 1 2 3
x
0
lim2
h
y x h

A function is differentiable if it has a

derivative everywhere in its domain. It
must be continuous and smooth.
Functions on closed intervals must have
one-sided derivatives defined at the end
points.
p