Calculus Week 2.
2
Rommel
27/11/2023
1 Implicit Differentiation
Implicit differentiation is a technique used in calculus to find the derivatives of
functions that are expressed implicitly, where the dependent and independent
variables are not explicitly isolated. In other words, the equation defining
the function does not explicitly solve for the dependent variable in terms of
the independent variable.
Here’s a detailed explanation of implicit differentiation:
Implicit Functions:
An implicit function is defined by an equation that relates the dependent
variable (usually denoted as y) and the independent variable (usually denoted
as x) without explicitly solving for y. For example, consider the equation:
x2 + y 2 = 1
This equation represents a circle centered at the origin with a radius of
1. Here, y is not isolated on one side of the equation.
Implicit Differentiation Process:
When you have an equation involving both x and y, and you want to find
the derivative with respect to x, you use implicit differentiation. The process
involves the following steps:
1. Differentiate both sides with respect to x: Apply the derivative operator
d
dx
to both sides of the equation. Treat y as a function of x and apply the
chain rule when necessary.
2. Isolate y 0 if needed: After differentiating both sides, you’ll often have
terms involving y 0 (the derivative of y with respect to x). If possible, isolate
y 0 to express it explicitly.
1
Example:
Let’s use the example x2 + y 2 = 1 to demonstrate implicit differentiation.
1. Differentiate both sides:
2x + 2yy 0 = 0
The derivative of x2 with respect to x is 2x. The derivative of y 2 with respect
to x is 2yy 0 using the chain rule.
2. Isolate y 0 :
2yy 0 = −2x
x
y0 = −
y
Key Points:
Implicit differentiation is particularly useful when dealing with equations
where explicitly solving for y may be difficult or impossible. It’s important
to treat y as a function of x and apply the chain rule when differentiating
terms involving y. The final result often involves y 0 , which represents the
derivative of y with respect to x.
Implicit differentiation is commonly used in various areas of calculus,
including finding slopes of curves, analyzing related rates problems, and
solving differential equations.
2 Newton’s Method
Newton’s method, also known as the Newton-Raphson method, is an iterative
numerical technique for finding successively better approximations to the
roots (or zeros) of a real-valued function. The method is particularly useful
for finding roots of equations when other methods may be impractical.
Explanation of Newton’s method:
Basic Idea:
1. Objective:
Newton’s method used to find the roots of a real-valued function f (x) = 0.
The method starts with an initial guess x0 and iteratively refines this
guess to get closer to the actual root.
2. Derivative Involvement: The method relies on the fact that the tangent
line to the graph of f (x) at a certain point can be a good approximation of
the function near that point. The slope of the tangent line is given by the
derivative f 0 (x).
2
Newton’s Iterative Formula:
Given an initial guess x0 , the next approximation x1 is obtained using
the following iterative formula:
f (x0 )
x1 = x0 −
f 0 (x0 )
This process is repeated to get x2 , x3 , . . . until a sufficiently accurate
approximation is obtained.
Steps of Newton’s Method:
1. Choose an Initial Guess:
Start with an initial guess x0 . This guess can significantly affect the
convergence of the method.
2. Iterative Update:
Use the Newton iteration formula to update the guess: xn+1 = xn − ff0(x n)
(xn )
.
Repeat this process until the desired level of accuracy is achieved.
3. Convergence Criteria: Typically, the iterations are stopped when the
change between successive approximations is sufficiently small, or when the
function value is close to zero.
Example:
Let’s consider finding the square root of a positive number a using Newton’s
method. We want to find x such that x2 − a = 0.
1. Define the Function: f (x) = x2 − a.
The root corresponds to f (x) = 0.
2. Derivative: - f 0 (x) = 2x.
3. Newton’s Iteration: 2 −a
The Newton iteration formula becomes xn+1 = xn − x2x n
n
.
Key Points:
Newton’s method converges rapidly for well-behaved functions when the
initial guess is reasonably close to the actual root.
Convergence may not occur, or it may be slow if the initial guess is far
from the root or if the function has certain characteristics. The method is
widely used in optimization, solving nonlinear equations, and finding roots
of functions.
It’s important to note that while Newton’s method is powerful, it may not
always converge or may converge to a local minimum or maximum if not
applied carefully. Additionally, it requires the availability of the derivative
of the function, which may not always be straightforward to obtain.