Mathematics: Introduction to Calculus
Table of Contents
- Calculus is the study of continous change
- Calculus is used to find the gradient of a graph, the maximum and minimum values, the area under or over a graph, inflection points, etc.
Derivation
- A derivation is a function which generalises some property of another function
- the derivative of
(say “f of x”) is (say “f prime of x”)
Rules (Copy into notes)
if is a number/constant if is a number/constant if and are a numbers/constants
Common Graphs
Quadratic
Cubic
Quartic
Hyperbola
Exponentials other than
First Principle
- The first principle is used to calculate the derivative of a graph
Example of First Principle
Find the first derivative of
- Define f(x)
- define f(x+h)
- State the First Principle
- Substitute f(x) and f(x+h) into First Principle
- Expand f(x) and f(x+h) where possible
- Eliminate as many variables as possible from the numerator
- factorise numerator to eliminate h
\(=4x^3 +6x^2 h +4xh^2 +h^3 +5)
- Substitute
- Answer the question
Shortcuts for the First Princple
- Here’s some convenient shortcuts for people who don’t want to waste time doing all the steps of the First Principle
- Use these unless a question SPECIFICALLY asks for First Principle
- Note that anything except
, and represent NUMBERS - Remember, differentiation is just finding the gradient of a curve!!!
Graphing Derivatives
Turning Points/Standing Points | |
Points of Inflection | Turning Points |
Horizontal Points of Inflection | Turning points ON THE X-AXIS |
Chain Rule
- The chain rule is used when one function is acting on another (e.g.
), and you need to find the derivative of the whole thing
Steps
- Bring the exponent to the front (Parentheses stay the same)
- Subtract 1 from exponent
- Multiply by derivative of inside
- Solve and answer the question
Product Rule (UWU Rule)
- The product rule is used to find the product of two differentials when given the original multipliers, for example:
- The product rule is as follows:
Steps
- Find
and
- Find
and
- Solve and answer the question
Quotient Rule
- The Quotient rule is used to find the quotient of two differentials when given the divisor and dividend, for example:
Yes I used the same functions. Deal with it 😎
- Pranav
Example Question
Find
Substitute values into the Quotient formula
Solve/Simplify
- Answer the question
Differentiating Sine, Cosine, and Tangent equations
TL;DR
(WHAT A PLOT TWIST) - Pranav Sharma
The Long Version
- When differentiating Sin, Cos and Tan, it’s important to remember that
- The First Principles (I hate it too, but it’s occasionally useful) can be used to find the derivatives of Sin, Cos, and Tan.
First derivative of Sine ( )
- So in the case of
, we have:
- From this, we can use the Sum-Difference identity
to get
- Based on our limits, and some lad named L’Hopital, we know that
, and - Therefore: