What are Derivatives?

Derivatives quantify changes in functions. For example, you might want to measure the change in the time your parents spend nagging you to do your homework as you get older. This would be measured using the slope of the nagging duration function. Derivatives allow you to measure the rate of change of the duration of nagging at a particular instant in time.

Let's explore this idea a little further.

Introduction

Derivatives measure the slope of a function.

Finding Derivatives

Example

Let's start with an easy example: the function \(f(x) = x + 3\)

\(f(x) = x + 3\) and \(f(x + \Delta x) = (x + \Delta x) + 3\).

Now the slope formula gives \(\dfrac{f(x + \Delta x) - f(x)}{\Delta x}\),

and plugging in our values for \(f(x + \Delta x)\) and \(f(x)\) gives \(\dfrac{(x + \Delta x) + 3 - (x + 3)}{\Delta x}\),

which simplifies to: \(\dfrac{x + \Delta x + 3 - x - 3}{\Delta x} = \dfrac{\Delta x}{\Delta x}\).

Dividing top and bottom by \(\Delta x\) yields \(\dfrac{1}{1} = 1\).

Letting \(\Delta x\) approach zero in this case does nothing, so the derivative of \(f(x) = x + 3\) is \(1\).

Notation: We write \(dx\) to mean \(\Delta x\) approaches \(0\) and \(\dfrac{d}{dx} (\text{something})\) to mean "the derivative of something". So, in the example, we have

It is also common to write \(f'(x)\) for "the derivative of \(f\) at \(x\)"

A more complicated example

What is the derivative of the function \(f(x) = x^2 + 3x\)?

\(f(x) = x^2 + 3x\) and \(f(x + \Delta x) = (x + \Delta x)^2 + 3(x + \Delta x)\).

Expand \(f(x + \Delta x)\):

Now the slope formula gives \(\dfrac{f(x + \Delta x) - f(x)}{\Delta x}\),

and plugging in our values for \(f(x + \Delta x)\) and \(f(x)\) yields \(\dfrac{x^2 + x (2 \Delta x + 3) + 3 \Delta x + (\Delta x)^2 - (x^2 + 3x)}{\Delta x}\),

which simplifies to: \(\dfrac{x^2 + 2x\Delta x + 3x + 3 \Delta x + (\Delta x)^2 - x^2 - 3x}{\Delta x} = \dfrac{2x\Delta x + 3\Delta x + (\Delta x)^2}{\Delta x}\).

Dividing top and bottom by \(\Delta x\) yields \(\dfrac{2x + 3 + \Delta x}{\Delta x} = 2x + 3 + \Delta x\).

Letting \(\Delta x\) approach zero gives \(2x + 3\), so \(f'(x) = 2x + 3\).

Finding derivatives of other functions

You can use this "definition of the derivative" approach to find the derivative of any function you like, but it can become rather tedious. It is more usual (and more efficient) to use the rules of derivatives to calculate more complicated derivatives.

Example:

What is the derivative of \(\tan (x)\)?

You could work this out as above, but you'll need to do a fair bit of algebra, and use some trigonometric identities. Alternatively, you could take the easy (sensible) way out and use the rules of derivatives to tell you that

Note: You need to be careful when applying the rules of derivatives. For example, if someone asked you to find the derivative of \(\text{Engelbert}(x)*\text{Filbert}(x)\), you couldn't just multiply the two derivatives together. You'd have to use something called the product rule, which is described in the article on the rules of derivatives.

Example:

What is the derivative of \(\cos^2(x)\)?

It absolutely isn't \(\left(\dfrac{d}{dx}(\cos (x)) \right)^2 = \sin^2 (x)\). If you look at the rules of derivatives article, it will tell you about something called the chain rule (or function of a function rule) that is useful here. Using this rule gives \(\dfrac{d}{dx} (\cos^2 (x)) = -2\cos(x)\sin(x)\), which is a teeny bit different from \(\sin^2 (x)\).

The next step is to learn all about the rules of derivatives.

Derivatives as Limits

The idea of \(\Delta x\) approaching zero is more precisely expressed using limit notation like this:

or, sometimes, See the article on notation for derivatives for an explanation of this Leibniz notation. You might see the process of using the definition to calculate derivatives called "differentiation from first principles" in some books. "Differentiation" is the name we give to the process of finding a derivative.