Scribd
Upload
53 views6 pages

Differentiation From First Principles

This document discusses differentiation from first principles, including defining the derivative, notation used for derivatives, and working through examples of differentiating functions from first principles. Derivatives describe the gradient of a tangent line to a curve at a given point and are found using limits. Notation for derivatives includes writing the derivative of f(x) as f'(x) or df/dx.

Uploaded by

Paula Fana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
53 views6 pages

Differentiation From First Principles

This document discusses differentiation from first principles, including defining the derivative, notation used for derivatives, and working through examples of differentiating functions from first principles. Derivatives describe the gradient of a tangent line to a curve at a given point and are found using limits. Notation for derivatives includes writing the derivative of f(x) as f'(x) or df/dx.

Uploaded by

Paula Fana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

DIFFERENTIATION FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES

We know that the gradient of the tangent to a curve with equation at can be

determine using the formula:

We can use this formula to determine an expression that describes the gradient of the graph
(or the gradient of the tangent to the graph) at any point on the graph. This expression (or
gradient function) is called the derivative.

DEFINITION
Derivative
The derivative of a function is written as and is defined by:

Differentiation
The process of determining the derivative of a given function.

This method is called differentiation from first principles or using the definition.
WORKED EXAMPLE : DIFFERENTIATION FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES
Calculate the derivative of from first principles.

SOLUTION
STEP1 :Write down the formula for finding the derivative using first principles

1
STEP 2. Determine

STEP 3. Substitute into the formula and simplify

STEP 4. Write the final answer


The derivative

NOTATION
There are a few different notations used to refer to derivatives. It is very important that you
learn to identify these different ways of denoting the derivative and that you are consistent in
your usage of them when answering questions.
If we use the common notation where the dependent variable is and the

independent variable is , then some alternative notations for the derivative are as follows:

The symbols D and are called differential operators because they indicate the operation of

differentiation.

means y differentiated with respect to .

2
Similarly, means p differentiated with respect to .

IMPORTANT: is not a fraction and does not mean

3
WORKED EXAMPLE: DIFFERENTIATION FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES
 Find the derivative of from first principles.

 Determine and interpret the answer.

SOLUTION
STEP1 :Write down the formula for finding the derivative using first principles

STEP 2. Substitute into the formula and simplify

STEP 3. Calculate and interpret the answer.

The derivative of at is 3.

The gradient of the function at is equal to 3.

4
The gradient of the tangent to at is equal to 3

5
WORKED EXAMPLE : DIFFERENTIATION FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES
QUESTION

Differentiate from first principles and interpret the answer.

SOLUTION
STEP1 :Write down the formula for finding the derivative using first principles

STEP 2. Substitute into the formula and simplify

STEP 3. Interpret the answer.

The gradient of is equal to 0 at any point on the graph.

The derivative of this constant function is equal to 0.

You might also like