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Madison Kirby
AP Calculus
Mrs. Tallman
9 March 2015
Derivatives, Integrals, and Graphs
Believe it or not, calculus is everywhere. Math is everywhere in life and can solve an
infinite amount of problems. However, to solve these problems certain topics must be understood.
One of these major concepts is that dealing with derivatives and integrals.
To begin, the derivative of a function is the instantaneous rate of change at any point of a
function. What this means is that at any point anywhere on a graph, the derivative is the slope of

the line tangent to that specific point, written as

dy
. To illustrate this, see Figure 1 below
dx

where the function is f(x)=x2 and the derivative is being found at point (x, f(x)).

f(x)=x2

Tangent line

(x, f(x))

Figure 1. Derivative Illustration

To calculate the slope of the tangent line, the formula used for derivative is

y
x

, which is the

change in y, or f(x), divided by the change in x. Two points must be found in order to properly

substitute into the slope formula of

y
, or
x

f (x )1f ( x )2
. The first point is (x, f(x)),
x 1x2

since this is the specific point being dealt with, and the second point is (x+h, f(x+h)). The h in the
second point is the increment between the first and second values being used, and it is important

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to note that this increment is infinitely small, basically zero, in order to have as close to a specific
answer as possible for the derivative. Now, these points are plugged into the slope formula shown
below in Figure 2.

dy f (x)1f (x )2
=
dx
x 1x 2

f ( x +h) f ( x)
x 2 +2 hx+ h2x 2 2 hx+ h2

2 x +h
( x +h )(x)
h
h

Figure 2. Derivative Calculation

Figure 2 produces the result of 2x+h, which means that the derivative of y=x2 is y=2x since h is
essentially zero. This process can get quite a bit lengthy when the question deals with more than
one variable at a time, luckily somewhere in the history of calculus there once was a
mathematician who discovered than taking a derivative of f(x) = xn was as simple as f(x) = nxn-1.
For example, if the question posed is what is the derivative of f(x)=12x5+2x3+x2+x+3 ? the
quick route would be f(x)=(5 12)x5-1+(3 2)x3-1+(2)x2-1+(1)x1-1+(0)3, simplified to f(x)=
60x4+6x2+2x+1.
Now that your mind is full of derivatives, it is time to switch over to integrals. No need to
be too frightful, all the integral is, is essentially the derivative in reverse! As a matter of fact,
another name for the integral is the antiderivative! Be grateful for the mathematician who decided
to not pick a completely unrelated name or letter this time, they have a knack for what some
could call creativity when it comes to naming things. Back to the explanation, there are two
types of integrals, definite and indefinite. For the definite integral, it is the same as the indefinite
except between the limits of [a, b]. This solves for the area underneath the function between a to
b. The definite integral will be explored a little farther down in this paper. The indefinite integral
is just the antiderivative of the function, which is represented by an equation that always ends in
+ C where the C is the constant of the original equation. If you refer back the equation
f(x)=12x5+2x3+x2+x+3, the derivative resulted in f(x)= 60x4+6x2+2x+1. In f(x) the 3 is
missing, gasp! Have no fear, + C is here! Having the C is necessary because the 3 would have
been lost in taking the derivative and the inclusion of this accounts for the loss. To find the

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indefinite integral of a function, the equation

x n dx= n+1 x n+1

is employed. For example,

if someone were to ask, Can you find the integral of x2? it could easily be done with that
equation. Figure 3 shows all the steps for this problem.

f ( x ) dx x 2 dx

1 n+1 1 3
x x + C
n+1
3

Figure 3. Indefinite Integral Calculation

Overall, the relationship between the derivative and the integral is fairly straightforward.
They are reverse operations of each other where f(x) is twice derived from

f ( x ) dx

, and

f(x) is the indefinite integral of f(x). With all the numbers, letters, equations, and countless xs,
one may forget that math is everywhere, and that includes derivatives and integrals. In your
everyday life these calculus concepts exist, to the dismay of some and excitement of others. Lets
say there is a dog standing at the end of the hall that just realized its owner is holding a bag of
treats. The dog, now full of excitement and anticipation, sprints in the owners direction. The
dogs displacement is represented by the equation f(x)=x2+2x, shown in Figure 4. F(x), or y, is the
displacement in meters and x is the amount of time in seconds that has passed since the dog began
moving towards his treats. From this, the velocity of the dog can be found by solving the

derivative of the displacement equation and getting f(x)=2x+2. Now,

dy
dx

is the velocity of

the dog at any given time and x is still the amount of time that has passed since the dog first
moved. The unit for velocity in this case is meters per second because the derivative is the change
in y, meters, over the change in x, seconds, or meters/seconds. This velocity is portrayed in
Figure 4.
Additionally, the derivative of velocity is acceleration is essentially just the second
derivative of displacement. Using the same methods previously explained, the derivative of
velocity is calculated to be f(x)=2. Since the velocity is consistently increasing, this means the

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dog is accelerating. The unit for the speed that the dog is accelerating down the hall is found to be

meters per second2. This is determined from using the formula

dy
, the second derivative of
d2 x

displacement. Since the y is in meters and x is in seconds, it is meters over seconds squared.

Velocity
Acceleration

Displacement

Figure 4. Displacement (Red), Velocity (Blue), and Acceleration (Green) of Dog

Figure 4 shows the velocity of the dog in blue; the integral of velocity, the displacement,
in red; and the derivative of velocity, acceleration, in green. What this all means is that as the dog
leaves the starting point and begins his displacement, he is accelerating at a common rate thus
causing his velocity to be linear and increase constantly as he approaches the treats, and since it is
a constant velocity then the acceleration is consistent. This graph illustrates how the integral of
the velocity becomes the displacements by showing that the displacement function has a higher
exponent of x. It also illustrates the derivative of velocity through the acceleration having a lower
exponent of x.
Another contextual example that depicts the relationship between the derivative and the
integral is area. Say the area of a square in inches squared is represented by the formula y=x. The

integral of this would become

x dx= 2 x 2

with a unit of inches cubed. The derivative of the

area would be length, represented by y=1 with units of just inches. As seen with the dog, the area
of the square integrated would result in a higher exponent for volume and a lower exponent for
length. Figure 5 displays this relationship.

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Volume
Area

Length

Figure 5. Area (Red), Volume (Green), and Length (Blue) of square

In Figure 5 it is seen that as the area increases at a linear rate, the length remains at a
constant value and the volume increases at a constant rate.
Furthermore, there are various relationships between graphs, functions, and derivatives as
well. One component of these relationships is critical points. Critical points are the points on a
graph where the slope of f(x) is undefined or zero. On the original graph, the critical points can
end up being points of inflection. To find a critical point, the derivative of the original function is
found and f(x) can either be found algebraically by setting the derivative of f(x) equal to zero or
graphically as with Figure 6.
max
f '(x)=
x

min
0

0
-5

-3
p.i.

f '(x)=
x

max

-5

-1

p.i.
-3

-1

0
3

zero
1

Figure 6. Graph of f(x) and Solution

Using Figure 6, the critical points from the closed interval of -5

x 5 with

f(1)=3 are x=-4, -1, and 2. In the solution to the right of Figure 6, f(x) shows the points of
inflection. The second derivative, f(x), is the concavity of the graph. If f(x) is increasing, then
the concavity is concave up, or opening upwards. If f(x) is decreasing, then the concavity is
concave down, or opening downwards. For the second derivative, to find the points of inflection

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you look at where the direction of concavity changes, at the critical points. So, for this example
the points of inflection are at x=-4, -1, and 2. However, the point at 2 is actually a zero because it
is a cusp. Where the graph intersects the x-axis is what helps find the maximums and minimums.
To determine whether these are maximums or minimums, follow the solution to the right of
Figure 6. Here, f(x) shows whether the graph is increasing or decreasing. If the derivative is
above the x-axis, then the graph is increasing. If the derivative is below the x-axis, then the graph
is decreasing. Where the zeros are on f(x) are where the maximums and minimums are located
on the original function. So, here the relative maximums are at -3 and 4, and the relative
minimum is at 1. By relative, this means that within this interval those are the maximums and
minimums but are not necessarily the maximums and minimums outside of the interval as well.
Combining all of this information, the original function can be drawn. It is shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Graph of f(x)

For Figure 7 it is important to note that the graph can be drawn at any point on the y-axis
since the C discussed earlier is not known. The intervals of f(x) that are concave up and a positive
slope are from -5 to 4 and 1 to 2. These can be seen graphically in Figure 7 and through the
solution in Figure 6.
To take this example farther, we will find g(3), g(3), and g(3) where g(x)=

f (t ) d t
'

. First, g(3) can be found by simply substituting 3 in for x, so g(3)=

f ' ( t ) dt
1

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which means the result is the integral from 1 to 3 of f(t). Also, to solve for the integral f(3)-f(1)
must be found, which is 2.5. This means that g(3)=2.5 unit. For g(3), integrating the function
comes out to be g(x)=f(x), so g(x)=f(x) and g(3)=f(3) which equals 1 unit. Lastly, for g(x),
the result is the slope of f(x) which is shown to be -1, which means that g(3)=f(3)=-1 unit.
Lets say that for some reason an integral was switched from a to b and became from b to
a. When the limits of integration are reversed, the answer is the same, except with an opposite

sign, meaning that

f ( x ) dx= f ( x ) dx
b

. The same area and interval is being used, but

since it is going from right to left on the interval instead of left to right, the result is opposite.
Through the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, which will be thoroughly explained shortly, the
result is shown as well. For example, if dealing with the function f(x)=x2 in the interval [0, 5], the

formula would be

0] would result in

1 3 1 3
5 0 =41.67 un2, but the inverse of this where the interval is [5,
3
3
1 3 1 3
0 5 = -41.67 un2.
3
3

The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (FTC), the Mean Value Theorem (MVT), and
Intermediate Value Theorem (IVT) are also related to this calculus. The first form of the
Fundamental Theorem of Calculus brings us back to the definite integrals and says that if there is
a function that can be integrated between a and b, it is the integral of the function at point b

subtracted by the integral of the function at point a, written as

f ( x ) dx=g ( b ) g ( a )

. For

example, if you were working with the function f(x)=x2 within the interval of [0, 2], to find the

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2

definite integral you could write

x 2 dx

and by FTC this would be equal to g(2)-g(0). Figure

8 shows the steps to solve this through the FTC.

2

x 2 dx 13 b3 13 a3 31 23 13 0 3 2.67 units2
0

Figure 8. Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

The result of the definite integral for this problem is 2.67 units 2, which means that there
are 2.67 units2 area below the graph of y=x2.
For the second form of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, it says that if the function
g(x) is the integral of f(x) from a to x, then g(x) = f(x). The equation used for this is g(x)=

f ( t ) dt

when g(x) = f(x). This can be used to graph g(x) if an integral from a to x is given.

Basically, the derivative of the integral is equal to the original function. For example, if the

G(x)

question is

w ( x )= F ( t ) dt , find the value of w(3) in reference to Table 1 for values where

1

functions f and g are differentiable for all real numbers, g is strictly increasing, and function h is
given by h(x) = f(g(x)) 6, and the work to solve this problem is shown in Figure 9 where the
result is w(3)=-1.
Table 1
Select values of x for f(x), f(x), g(x), and g(x)
x
f(x)
f(x)
g(x)
g(x)
1
3
4
2
5
2
9
2
3
1
3
10
-4
4
2
4
-1
3
6
7
g (x )

w ( x )= f ( t ) dt w' ( x )=f ( g ( x ) ) f ( g ( 3 ) ) f ( 4 ) w' (3 )=1 Figure 9. FTC Example

1

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The Mean Value Theorem says that if the function f(x) is differentiable and continuous on
the open interval from a to b, them a number, c, between a and b must exist so that f(c) is the

mean of the derivatives found in the interval [a, b] and is represented by f(c)=

f ( b )f ( a)
.
ba

This means that if there was a line connecting a and b, that line would have a slope, and that
some x value, which would be c, in that interval there would have the same slope as this line. So,
the connecting line would be parallel to the line tangent to x=c in the interval [a, b]. Figure 10
shows the MVT.

b
Slope
Tangent
a

Figure 10. MVT Example Graph

Figure 10 displays the Mean Value Theorem. The blue line shows the connection of
points a and b, and the red line shows the tangent line of the point c. For an example problem of
the Mean Value Theorem, say the question is to explain why there must be a value, c, for 1< c < 3
so that h(c)=-5. The Mean Value Theorem is used to show that within the interval [1, 3], the
mean value of the derivatives is equal to -5. The calculation is shown in Figure 11.

h' ( c )=

f ( g ( 3 ) )f ( g (1 ) ) f ( 4 )f ( 2 ) 19

h ' ( c )
31
2
2

Figure 11. MVT Example Solution

Figure 11 shows that between [a, b], now [1, 3], there must exist the value of h(c)=-5.
Furthermore, the Intermediate Value Theorem says that when a function f(x) is continuous
between [a, b] and y is any value of f(x) between f(a) and f(b), then there is a value, c, which x=c,

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such that f(c)=y. If given the equation f(x)=5x+2 and the interval [1, 3], this means that at every
point between f(1) and f(3), or 7 and 17, there is a value for y that exists. Looking back at Table 1,
explain why there must be a value, r, for 1< r < 3 so that h(r) = -5. To solve this problem the IVT
is used and the solution is shown in Figure 12.

h ( 1 )=f ( g ( 1 ) ) 6 f ( 2 )6 96 h ( 1 )=3
h ( 3 )=f ( g ( 3 ) )6 f ( 4 )616 h ( 3 )=7 Figure 12. IVT Example Solution
Figure 12 shows that through the Intermediate Value Theorem, there must be an r for the
interval of 1 < r < 3 such that h(r)=-5 and the solution is from 3 to -7.
Continuing with these values, say that you were asked to solve the following problem, if
G-1 is the inverse of G write an equation for the line tangent to the graph of y = G-1(x) at x=2.
First, G(2) must be solved, which results in the (x, y) coordinates of (2, 1). Next, the inverse is
taken to make the coordinates correspond with G-1, so now they are (1, 2). Now the x coordinate
from G-1 is used to find slope, so G(1)=5. The reciprocal and opposite sign is taken from G(1),

so now the solution is

final answer is y=

1
5

1
. These can now be substituted into an equation for a line, and the
5

(x-2)+1.

Also, if h(x) = x b(x), where b(x) = f-1(x), use Table 1 to find h(3). To solve this, the
product rule for the derivatives is used to find the derivative of h(x), which results in h(x)=b(x)

+xb(x). Since b(x) = f-1(x), this means that b(x) =

equal to f-1(x)+

1
, and using this h(x) is found to be
f '( y)

3
. The question asks to find h(3), so now this values is plugged in and
f '( y )

the result is h(3)=1.75.

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Although Calculus has many more major topics, the derivative and the integral are still
very important. On the surface they may seem simple since they are essentially just the opposite
of each other, but once you begin to dig deeper and deeper it becomes clear that there is no end to
math and derivatives and integrals have countless applications from a dogs speed to the area of a
square, or determining functions from one graph, or even the application of the multiple theorems
related to this topic. Needless to say, math is infinite.