Preliminary Mathematics Assessment Task

Introduction to Calculus

Tam Khiet Nguyen

11
Introduction to Calculus
Link to Syllabus : http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/11-12/stage-6-
learning-areas/stage-6-mathematics/mathematics-syllabus
Topic : The Tangent to a Curve and the Derivative of a Function. (8.1 – 8.9)

USEFUL FORMULAS IN REFERENCE SHEET: OTHER USEFUL RULES AND/OR SHORTCUTS

Differentiation from First Principle: dy
= y’ =
dx
f ( x +h ) −f (x )
f’(x) = lim f’(x)
h→0 h
dy
If y = axn, then = anxn-1
Basic Differentiation: dx

dy dy
If y = x
n
, then =n x n−1 If y = C, then =0 [If C is a
dx dx
constant]
Function of a Function Rule (or Chain Rule)
dy ' du The derivative of a sum is the
If y = f (u) , then =f ( u )
dx dx Derivative of a Sum sum of the derivatives

Product Rule: If f(x) = u(x) + v(x), then f’(x) = u’(x) + v’(x)

If y = uv , then e.g. f(x) = 2x3+3x u(x) = 2x3, v(x) = 3x
dy dv du
=u +v then u’(x) = 6x2, v’(x) = 3
dx dx dx
∴ f’(x) = 6x2 + 3
Quotient Rule
Test 1

u
If y = , then
v
du du
v −u
dy dx dx
=
dx v
2
INFINITESIMAL CALCULUS – The Mathematics of Change [Introduction]
First Principle of Calculus If what we’re after is the gradient of the function a
particular point, we should first find the gradient of
1. Imagine a circle with centre O and tangent AB that any secant (since it has 2 points) and think about
intersects at point X what happens to that as secant as it gets closer and
closer to becoming a tangent (like previous
example).
f(x) y = f(x)
Let the first point have
O
co-ordinate ( x , f(x) )
and the second point
B f(x+h) be ‘h’ units away
horizontally. Hence,
the second point has
co-ordinates( x+h ,
A
]

f(x) f(x+h) )
With just one point, it is hard to do any ‘maths’ with
h
this line. However, if we can get towards this tangent x
with something that we can calculate (something x x+h
a
with two points), e.g. a bunch of parallel secants that
creates parallel chords inside the circle;
Hence, the gradient (m) of the secant is:

rise Δy
msecant = =
run Δx
O
f ( x+ h )−f ( x)
msecant =
B h

X But what we’re really after is the gradient of the

tangent at a single point, just like the example with
A the circle. For this to happen, h must get very small.
From the diagram above, as the chords gets closer
and closer to becoming tangent, their lengths get Of course, h can never be zero (you can’t divide by
shorter and shorter. At point X, the length would be zero), but we can think about what happens at it
0, which means that it is no longer a chord. gets closer and closer to zero i.e. what is the limit as
h approaches 0.
Now we need to introduce language that talks about
things that we can’t actually get to, but can still think lim ¿ f ( x+ h )−f ( x)
mtangent =
about and do calculations with. Hence: Limits h→0 h
(Maths in Focus Preliminary Course Chapter 5 Page
This is what we call the first principle of calculus.
275, studied in Term 2).
From here, new language and notations were
2. Now picture a curve, say, some function of x, in introduced.
the first quadrant:
While we can get a gradient of the tangent at a
f(x y = f(x) particular point on the function, we could also get it
) at any point we want and it will continue to change
(like a function). Since it is not definite like the
gradient of a straight line, it was therefore defined as
the Gradient Function.
rise
In the same manner, the notation is also
run
not working, since there isn’t really a rise or run. The
dy
x notation was then introduced (where d
dx
means delta (Δ) or ‘difference’). This still somewhat because we are looking at an infinitesimally small
means rise over run, but only in the case where the spot.
rise and the run are both tending towards zero
Example Questions
1. Differentiate

2. Differentiate f(x) = x2+5x+6

Solution, by first principle:

f(x) = x2+5x+6

f(x+h) = (x+h)2 + 5(x+h) + 6

= x2+2xh+h2 + 5x+5h + 6

lim ¿ f ( x+ h )−f ( x)
f ' (x) = (refer
h→0 h
to reference sheet)

f ' (x) =
Shorter method
lim ¿ f’(x) = u’(x) + v’(x)
h→0
f’(x) = 2x2-1+5x1-1+6
dy
= 2x+5
dx
Note: the 6 turns into 0
because it is a constant
independent of x

x
2 2
(¿ ¿ 2+2 xh+h +5 x+ 5 h+ 6 )−( x +5 x+ 6)
h
¿
2
lim ¿ 2 x h+h +5 h
= h→0
h

= lim ¿ 2x + h + 5
h→0

= 2x + 0 + 5
= 2x + 5