Lecture 12.
Derivatives of Logarithmic Functions
We use implicit differentiation to find the derivatives of the logarithmic functions y=log b x
and, in particular, the natural logarithmic function y=ln x . [It can be proved that logarithmic
functions are differentiable; this is certainly plausible from their graphs].
If y=log b x , then b y =x .
d x
Differentiating this equation implicitly with respect to x, using formula ( b )=b x ln b, we get
dx
dy
b y ln b =1
dx
and so,
dy 1 1
= =
dx b y ln b x ln b
If we put b=e in this formula, then the factor ln b on the right side becomes ln e=1
and we get the formula for the derivative of the natural logarithmic function log e x=ln x :
d
¿
dx
By comparing these formulas, we see one of the main reasons that natural logarithms
(logarithms with base e ) are used in calculus:
The differentiation formula is simplest when b=e because ln e=1.
Example 1. Differentiate y=ln ( x3 +1 )
Let u=x3 +1 and y=ln u and use the Chain Rule:
dy dy du 1 du
= ∙ = ∙
dx du dx u dx
du
=3 x 2 and so,
dx
dy 1 2 3 x2
= 3 ∙ 3 x = 3x
dx x +1 x +1
In general
d d
¿or ¿
dx dx
Example 2. Find f ' ( x) if f (x)= √ ln x.
Here the logarithmic function is inner function, therefore the Chain Rule gives
1 −1
1 −1
' 1 1 1
f ( x )= ( ln x ) 2 ( ln x ) = ( ln x )
' 2
∙ =
2 2 x 2 x √ ln x
Example 3. Differentiate y=log 10 ( x +sin x )
d 1
f ' ( x )= log 10 ( x+sin x )=
dx ¿ ¿
1
¿
¿¿
d x+1
Example 4. Find ln
dx √ x−2
−1
1
( √ x−2 ) ∙ 1− ( x−2 ) 2 ∙ ( x +1 )
d x+1 1 d x +1 √ x−2 ∙ 2
Solution 1. ln
dx √ x−2
= ∙
x+1 dx √ x−2
=
x +1 ( ) ( √ x−2 )
2
=¿
√ x−2
1
( x −2 )− ( x +1)
2 x−5
¿ =
( x +1 ) ( x−2 ) 2(x +1)(x−2)
Solution 2. If we first simplify the given function using the laws of logarithms, then
the differentiation becomes easier:
d x+1 d 1 1 1
ln = [ ln( x+ 1)−ln √ x−2 ]= − ∙
dx √ x−2 dx x +1 2 x−2
Example 5. Differentiate y=ln |x|
Since
y=
{lnln(−xx ,if) ,ifx>0x<0
it follows that
1
y='
{ 1
−x
x
, x >0
1
∙ (−1 )= , x< 0
x
Thus
d 1
( ln |x|) =
dx x
for all x .
Logarithmic Differentiation
The calculation of derivatives of complicated functions involving products, quotients, or
powers can often be simplified by taking logarithms. The method used in the following
example is called logarithmic differentiation.
x 3/ 4 ( √ x 2+1 )
Example 6. Differentiate y=
( 3 x +2 )5
We take logarithms of both sides of the equation and use the Laws of Logarithms
to simplify:
3 1
ln y= ln x + ln ( x 2 +1 )−5 ln ( 3 x +2 )
4 2
Differentiating implicitly with respect to x gives
1 dy 3 1 1 2 x 3
= + −5
y dx 4 x 2 x +12
3 x +2
dy
Solving for , we get
dx
dy 3 2x 15
dx
=y
( + 2 −
4 x 2 x +2 3 x+ 2 )
We can substitute y and we have
3 /4 2
dy x ( √ x +1 ) 3 2x 15
dx
=
( 3 x+ 2 ) 5
+ 2 −(
4 x 2 x +2 3 x+2 )
Steps in Logarithmic Differentiation
1. Take natural logarithms of both sides of an equation y=f (x ) and use the Laws
of Logarithms to simplify.
2. Differentiate implicitly with respect to x .
3. Solve the resulting equation for y ' .
If f ( x ) <0 for some values of x, then ln f ( x) is not defined, but we can write | y|=|f ( x)|.
Example 7. Differentiate y=x √ x
Since both the base and the exponent are variables, we use logarithmic differentiation:
ln y= √ x ln x
y'
−1
1 1
= √ x ∙ + x 2 ln x
y x 2
1 ln x 2+ ln x
y'= y ( +
√ x 2√x
=x √ x
2√x) ( )
The Number e as a limit
' 1
We know that if f ( x )=ln x , then f ( x )= . Thus f ' ( 1 )=1. We now use this fact to express the
x
number e as a limit.
From the definition of a derivative as a limit, we have
f ( 1+ x ) −f (1) ln(1+ x)−ln1 1
f ' ( 1 )=lim =lim =lim ln(1+ x)=lim ln(1+ x)1 /x
x →0 x x →0 x x →0 x x→ 0
Because f ' ( 1 )=1, we have
lim ln (1+ x)1 / x =1
x →0
On the other hand, we have
1/x
lim [ ln(1+ x)] 1/x
e=e1=e x→0
=lim e ( ln(1+x) ) =lim (1+ x)1/ x
x→0 x→ 0
Therefore
e=lim (1+ x )1/ x
x →0
1
If we put n= , then n → ∞as x → 0and so an alternative expression for e is
x
1 n
e=lim 1+
n→∞ n ( )
Homework 12. Textbook. p. 223, ex. 2-22(even numbers), 39-50 (even numbers
only).
