Math 135 Business Calculus Spring 2009

Class Notes
1.6 Differentiation Techniques: The Product and Quotient Rules
In Section 1.5, we saw how to differentiate the sum of two functions. This section shows how to
differentiate the product or quotient of two functions.
THE PRODUCT RULE
While the derivative of the sum of two functions is the sum of the derivatives, the derivative of a
product of two functions is not the product of the derivatives. The following is the rule for finding the
derivative of a product.

THEOREM 5 The Product Rule

Let F (x) = f (x) · g(x). Then
d £ §
F 0 (x) = f (x) · g(x) = f 0 (x) · g(x) + f (x) · g 0 (x).
dx

d £ 4 §
EXAMPLE Find (x − 2x3 − 7)(3x2 − 5x) .
dx

d £ 3 §
EXAMPLE Find (x − 3x2 + x)2 .
dx

EXAMPLE The U.S. gross domestic product, in billions of dollars, can be approximated using the
function
P (t) = 567 + t(36t0.6 − 104)
where t is the number of years since 1960.
a) Find the (instantaneous) rate of change P 0 (t).

b) Find and interpret P 0 (45).

23
24 Chapter 1 Differentiation

THE QUOTIENT RULE

Just as the derivative of a product of two functions is not the product of the derivatives, the derivative
of a quotient of two functions is not the quotient of the derivatives. The rule for differentiating quotients
is as follows.
THEOREM 6 The Quotient Rule
N (x)
Let Q(x) = . Then
D(x)
∑ ∏
0 d N (x) N 0 (x) · D(x) − N (x) · D0 (x)
Q (x) = = £ §2 .
dx D(x) D(x)

1 + x2
EXAMPLE Differentiate f (x) =
x3
a) By using the Quotient Rule.

b) By first rewriting the function as a sum of powers.

√
x+1
EXAMPLE Differentiate g(x) = .
x2 + 2
 1.6 Differentiation Techniques: The Product and Quotient Rules 25

APPLICATION OF THE QUOTIENT RULE

In addition to the total cost, revenue, and profit when x items are produced and sold, businesses are
also interested in the average cost, revenue, and profit as well as how these change as the number of
items produced and sold changes.

DEFINITION
Suppose C(x) is the cost of producing x items and R(x) is the revenue from the sale of x items. Then
the profit from the sale of x items is
P (x) = R(x) − C(x).
The average cost of producing x items is
Total cost C(x)
= .
Number of items x
The average revenue of producing x items is
Total revenue R(x)
= .
Number of items x
The average profit of producing x items is
Total profit P (x)
= .
Number of items x

EXAMPLE Paulsen’s Greenhouse finds that the cost, in dollars of growing x hundred geraniums is
given by √
C(x) = 200 + 100 4 x
and the revenue from the sale of x hundred geraniums is given by
√
R(x) = 120 + 90 x.
Find the following:
a) The average cost, the average revenue, and the average profit when x hundred geraniums are grown
and sold.

b) The rate of change of the average profit when 300 geraniums are being grown and sold.