Problems on Derivatives

Inesh Chattopadhyay

August 2024

1. Find derivatives of the following functions, and also the points of non-differentiability (if any):
(i) f (x) = log |x|, x ∈ R\{0} (ii) f (x) = | log x|, x ∈ R+ (iii) f (x) = | log |x||, x ∈ R\{0}
r
2 1 − cos 2x
(iv) f (x) = ⌊x⌋ sin πx, x ∈ R (v) f (x) = , x ∈ (0, π) \ {π/2}
1 + cos 2x
√
(vi) f (x) = sin−1 (2x 1 − x2 ), x ∈ (−1, 1)
2. Let f, g be once and twice differentiable functions respectively over R, then find derivatives of
the following functions:
(i) f (x)2 (ii) f (x)f ′ (x) (iii) ef (x) (iv) ex f (x) (v) e−x f (x) (vi) ef (x) (g(x) + g ′ (x)).
3. Check whether these functions are differentiable:
(
x sin x, if x ̸= 0
(i) f (x) =
0, if x = 0
(
x2 sin x, if x ̸= 0
(ii) f (x) =
0, if x = 0
 
 cos 1 (log(1 + x))2 , if x > 0
(iii) f (x) = x
0, if x ≤ 0


4. Suppose f and g are thrice differentiable functions such that f (x)g(x) = 1 for all x. Then show
that the following relations hold true at those points where the denominators are not zero :
f ′ (x) g ′ (x)
(i) + = 0.
f (x) g(x)
f ′′ (x) f ′ (x) g ′′ (x)
(ii) ′ −2 − ′ = 0.
f (x) f (x) g (x)
f ′′′ (x) f ′ (x)g ′′ (x) f ′′ (x) g ′′′ (x)
(iii) ′ −3 − 3 − ′ = 0.
f (x) f (x)g ′ (x) f (x) g (x)
2 2
f ′′′ (x) 3 f ′′ (x) g ′′′ (x) 3 g ′′ (x)
 
(iv) ′ − = ′ − .
f (x) 2 f ′ (x) g (x) 2 g ′ (x)
log(g(x))
5. Suppose g be a non-negative function such that g(0) = 1. Suppose that lim = 1 for
x→0 xr
some real constant r > 1. Show that g is differentiable at x = 0.

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 6. We say, a function f satisfies Lipschitz condition of order α at c if there exists M > 0 (which
may depend on c) such that
|f (x) − f (c)| < M |x − c|α
holds for all x in some deleted neighbourhood around c.
(a) If f satisfies a Lipschitz condition of order α at c, then show that α > 0 implies f is
continuous at x = c, furthermore α > 1 implies f is differentiable at x = c.
(b) Give an example of a function satisfying a Lipschitz condition of order 1 at c for which f ′ (c)
does not exist.
7. Suppose that f is a function, differentiable at x = a. Then evaluate the following limits:
xn f (a) − an f (x)
(i) lim .
x→a
  x − a    
1 2  n
(ii) lim f a + 2 + f a + 2 + · · · + f a + 2 − nf (a)
n→∞ n n n
8. Suppose f : A → B is an invertible function, with inverse f −1 : B → A, where A, B ⊆ R. Let
a ∈ A, and b ∈ B be such that b = f (a). If f is differentiable at a, f −1 is continuous at b, and
f ′ (a) ̸= 0, then show that f −1 must be differentiable at f and (f −1 )′ (d) = 1/f ′ (c).
The above result is known as Inverse Function Theorem.
Moreover, if f ′ (a) = 0 and all other conditions remain valid, then show that f −1 is not differ-
entiable at b.
9. (a) (Leibniz rule) If f, g are n-times differentiable functions, then show that
n  
dn X n
f (k) (a) g (n−k) (a)


f (x) · g(x) =
dxn k=0
k
x=a

where, for any function h, h(j) denotes j-th order derivative of the function h.
(b) Show that for x > 0, n ∈ N,

dn n
 
1 1
(x log x) = n! log x + 1 + + · · · + .
dxn 2 n

(c) Derive the following identity

n  
k+1 1 n 1 1
X
(−1) = 1 + + ··· + .
k=1
k k 2 n

10. (Faà di Bruno’s formula) Suppose I, J ⊆ R are open intervals and f : J → R, g : I → J are
n-times differentiable functions. Show that
n  (j) m
dn X n! (m)
Y g (x) j
f (g(x)) = · f (g(x)) ·
dxn m1 ! m2 ! · · · mn ! j=1
j!

where m = m1 + m2 + · · · + mn and the sum is over all n-tuples of non-negative integers

(m1 , . . . , mn ) satisfying the constraint m1 + 2 m2 + 3 m3 + · · · + n mn = n.

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11. Show that if f is differentiable on an open interval I containing the point a, then
f (a + h) − f (a − h)
lim = f ′ (a).
h→0 2h
f (a + h) − f (a − h)
Is there any continuous function f such that lim exists but f is not differ-
h→0 2h
entiable at x = a?
12. If f is twice differentiable on an open interval containing a and f ′′ is continuous at a, show
f (a + h) − 2f (a) + f (a − h)
lim = f ′′ (a).
h→0 h2
[Hint: may require L’hôpital’s rule.]
13. Simplify:
n
X n
X n
X
kx 2 kx
(i) ke , x ∈ R (ii) k e , x∈R (iii) k cos (kx), x ∈ R.
k=0 k=0 k=0
 1
 log x−log
tan x θ
14. For θ ∈ (0, π/2), evaluate the limit: lim .
x→θ tan θ
15. If x, y follow the relation 2x = y 1/m + y −1/m , where m ∈ R \ {0}, show that

d2 y dy
(x2 − 1)
2
+x = m2 y.
dx dx
√ √
16. If x, y > −1 follow the relation x 1 + y + y 1 + x = 0, show that
 2 2  3
dy dy
2
+4 = 0.
dx dx