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22
Derivatives
Derivative or Differential Coefficient
The rate of change of a quantity y with respect to another quantity x is
called the derivative or differential coefficient of y with respect to x.

Differentiation
The process of finding derivative of a function is called differentiation.

Differentiation using First Principle

Let f(x) is a function, differentiable at every point on the real number
line, then its derivative is given by
d f(x  x)  f(x)
f  (x)  f(x)  lim
dx x  0 x

Derivatives of Standard Functions

d
(i) (x n )  n x n  1 , n  R
dx
d
(ii) (k)  0, where k is constant.
dx
(iii) d (ex )  ex
dx
d
(iv) (a x )  a x loge a, where a  0, a  1
dx
d 1
(v) (log e x)  , x  0
dx x
d 1 1
(vi) (log a x)  (log a e)  ,x0
dx x x log e a
d
(vii) (sin x)  cos x
dx
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Derivatives 235
d
(viii) (cos x)   sin x
dx
d 
(ix) (tan x)  sec2 x, x  (2n  1) , n  I
dx 2
d
(x) (cot x)   cosec2 x, x  n, n  I
dx
(sec x)  sec x tan x, x  (2n  1) , n  I
d
(xi)
dx 2
d
(xii) (cosec x)   cosec x cot x, x  n , n  I
dx
d 1
(xiii) (sin 1 x)  , 1 x  1
dx 1  x2
d 1
(xiv) (cos1 x)   ,  1 x  1
dx 1  x2
d 1
(xv) (tan 1 x) 
dx 1  x2
d 1
(xvi) (cot1 x)  
dx 1  x2
d 1
(xvii) (sec1 x)  ,|x| 1
dx |x| x 2  1
d 1
(xviii) (cosec 1x)   ,|x| 1
dx |x| x 2  1
d
(xix) (sinh x)  cos h x
dx
d
(xx) (cosh x)  sin h x
dx
d
(xxi) (tanh x)  sech 2 x
dx
d
(xxii) (coth x)   cosech 2 x
dx
d
(xxiii) (sech x)   sec h x tan h x
dx
d
(xxiv) (cosech x)   cosech x cot h x
dx
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( xx v) d (sinh 1 x)  1 / (x 2  1)
dx
( xx vi) d (cosh1 x)  1 / (x 2  1), x  1
dx
( xx vii ) d (tanh 1 x)  1 / (1  x 2 ),|x| 1
dx
( xx viii ) d (coth1 x)  1 / (1  x 2 ),|x|  1
dx
d
( xxix ) (sech 1 x)   1 / x (1  x 2 ), x (0, 1)
dx
d
( xxx ) (cosech 1x)   1/|x| (1  x 2 ), x  0
dx

Fundamental Rules for Derivatives

d { cf(x)}  c d f(x), where c is a con
(i) dx dx stant.
d { f(x)  g(x )}  d f(x)  d
g(x)
(ii) dx dx dx [sum and difference rule]
d d
d { f(x) g(x)}  f x) g(x)  g(x)
(iii) ( f(x)
dx dx dx
[leibnitz product rule or product rule]
Generalisation If u 1 , u 2 , u 3 , ..., u n are functions of x, then
d  du 
(u1 u 2 u3 ... u n )   1  [u 2 u 3 ... u n ]
dx  dx 
 du   du 
 u 1  2  [u3 ... u n ]  u 1u 2  3 
 dx   dx 
 dun 
[u 4 u 5 … u n ]  …  [u1 u 2 ...u n  1]  
 dx 
d d
g(x) f(x)  f(x) g(x)
d  f(x)  dx dx
(iv)   [quotient rule]
dx  g(x) { g(x)} 2
d d
(v) If f(x)  (x), then f(ax  b)  a (ax  b)
dx dx
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Derivatives 237
Derivatives of Different Types of Function
1. Derivatives of Composite Functions (Chain Rule)
If f and g are differentiable functions in their domain, then fog is also
differentiable
Also, ( fog) (x)  f  { g(x)} g  (x)
dy dy du
More easily, if y  f(u ) and u  g(x), then   .
dx du dx
Extension of Chain Rule
If y is a function of u , u is a function of v and v is a function of x. Then,
dy  dy  d u  dv .
dx du dv dx

2. Derivatives of Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Sometimes, it becomes very tedious to differentiate inverse
trigonometric function. It can be made easy by using trigonometrical
transformations and standard substitution.
Some Standard Substitution
S. No. Expression Substitution

(i) a  x
2 2
x  a sin or a cos 
(ii) a2  x2 x  a tan or a cot 
(iii) x a
2 2
x  a sec  or a cosec 
(iv) a  x or a x x  acos 2
a x ax
(v) a2  x2 a2  x2 x2  a2 cos 2
or
a2  x2 a2  x2
(vi) x  x   cos2    sin2 
or (x  )(x  )
x
(vii) asin x  bcos x a  r cos , b  r sin

3. Derivatives of Implicit Functions

dy
To find of a function f(x, y)  0, which can not be expressed in the
dx
form y  (x), we differentiate both sides of the given relation
dy
with respect to x and collect the terms containing at one side and
dx
dy
find .
dx
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238 Handbook of Mathematics

4. Derivatives of Parametric Functions

If the given function is of the form x  f(t), y  g(t), where t is
parameter, then
 
dy d g(t)
dy  dt  g (t)
  dt 
dx  dx  d f  (t)
  f(t)
 dt  dt

Derivative of a Function with Respect to

Another Function
If y  f(x) and z  g(x), then the differentiation of y with respect to z is
dy
dy  dx  f  (x)
dz dz g  (x)
dx

Logarithmic Differentiation
(i) If a function is the product or quotient of functions such as
f (x) f2(x) f3 (x)...
y  f1 (x) f2 (x)... fn (x) or 1 , we first take logarithm
g1 (x) g2(x) g3 (x)...
and then differentiate it.
(ii) If a function is in the form of [f(x)] g ( x ) , we first take logarithm
and then differentiate it.
Note If { f(x)}g( y )  { g (y)}f( x), then
dy g (y) f  (x) f(x)log g(y)  g (y)
dx  f(x)  g  (y)  g (y)log f(x)  f(x) 
 

Differentiation of Infinite Series

Sometimes, the function is given in the form of an infinite series, e.g.
y f(x)  f(x) ...  , then the process to find the derivative of such
infinite series is called differentiation of infinite series.
e.g. Suppose y  log x  log x  log x ... 

Then, y  log x  y  y 2  log x  y

Now, differentiate it by usual method.
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Derivatives 239
Note
...  dy y2f (x)
(i) If y  f(x){f( x)} , then 
dx f(x){1 ylog f(x)}
dy f (x)
(ii) If y  f(x)  f(x) f(x)  …  , then 
dx 2 y  1

Differentiation of a Determinant
p q r
If y  u v w , where all elements of determinant are differentiable
l m n
functions of x, then
dp dq dr p q r p q r
dy  dx dx dx du dv dw
u v w   u v w
dx dx dx dx dl dm dn
l m n l m n
dx dx dx

Successive Differentiations
If the function y  f(x) is differentiated with respect to x, then the
dy
result or f  (x), so obtained, is a function of x (may be a constant).
dx
dy
Hence, can again be differentiated with respect to x.
dx
dy
The differential coefficient of with respect to x is written as
dx
d  dy d 2 y d2 y
  or f   (x). Again, the differential coefficient of 2 with
dx  dx dx 2 dx
respect to x is written as
d  d 2 y d 3 y
  or f    (x) …
dx  d x 2  dx3
dy d 2 y d 3 y
Here, , , ,… are respectively known as first, second,
dx d x 2 dx3
third, … order differential coefficients of y with respect to x. These
are alternatively denoted by f  (x), f   (x), f    (x),… or y1 , y2 , y3 ,…,
respectively.
dy d 2y
2
d y 2
Note dy  d but 2  d2
dx dx dx d x
d d2
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nth Derivative of Some Functions

d n [sin (ax  b) ]  a n si  n  ax  b
(i) n 
dx n  2 
d n [cos(ax  b) ]  a n cos  n  ax  b
(ii) 
dx n  2 
d n (ax  b)m  m ! a n (ax  b)m  n
(iii)
dx n (m  n)!
dn (1)n 1 (n  1)! a n
(iv) [log(ax  b)] 
dx n (ax  b)n
dn
(v) (e ax )  a n e ax
dx n
dn
(vi) (a x )  a x (log a)n
dx n
dn
(vii) (a) [eax sin(bx  c)]  r n e ax sin (bx  c  n)
dx n
dn
(b) [e ax cos (bx  c)]  r n e ax cos(bx  c  n)
dx n
 b
where, r  a 2  b2 and   tan1  
 a

Partial Differentiation
The partial differential coefficient of f(x, y) with respect to x is the
ordinary differential coefficient of f(x, y) when y is regarded as a
f
constant. It is written as or fx .
x
f f(x  h , y)  f(x, y)
Thus,  lim
x h  0 h
f
Similarly, the differential coefficient of f (x, y) with respect to y is
y
f f(x, y  k)  f(x, y)
or fy, where  lim
y k  0 k
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Derivatives 241
e.g. If z  f(x, y)  x 4  y 4  3xy 2  x 2 y  x  2y,
z f
then or or fx  4x3  3y 2  2xy  1
x x
[here, y is consider as constant]
z f
and or or f y  4y 3  6xy  x 2  2 [here, x is consider as constant]
y y

Higher Partial Derivatives

f f
Let f(x, y) be a function of two variables such that , both exist.
x y

(i) The partial derivative of f w.r.t. x is denoted by  f or fxx .

2

x x2
(ii) The partial derivative of f w.r.t. y is denoted by  f or fyy.
2

y y2
f 2 f
(iii) The partial derivative of w.r.t. y is denoted by or fxy.
x y x
f 2 f
(iv) The partial derivative of w.r.t. x is denoted by or fyx .
y x y

Euler’s Theorem on Homogeneous Function

If f(x, y) is a homogeneous function of x, y of degree n, then
f f
x  y  nf
x y