Calculus One

Linearization
Lecture Notes & Study Guide
by
David Andrew Smith
Edition: Friday 24
th
December, 2010
University of Texas Arlington
Mathematics Subject Classication (2010): Primary 00-01
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calculus-one/
linearization.pdf
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LINEARIZATION
DAVID ANDREW SMITH
Abstract. These notes are in preparation.
Contents
1. Linearization 1
Exercises 4
References 5
1. Linearization
In this section dierentials are motivated, dened, and then used to approxi-
mate real numbers. The linearization of a function around a point (via the tangent
line) is illustrated.
Let y = f(x) where f is a dierentiable function. The dierential dy repre-
sents the amount that the tangent line rises or falls, whereas y represents the
amount that the curve y = f(x) rises or falls when x changes by an amount dx.
Since
dy
dx
= lim
x0
y
x
we have
y
x

dy
dx
whenever x 0
If we take dx = x, then we have y dy which says that the actual change in
y is approximately equal to the dierential dy. If f (x
1
) is a known number and it
is desired to calculate an approximate value for f (x
1
+ x) where x is small,
then f (x
1
+ x) f (x
1
) + dy.
Date: Friday 24
th
December, 2010.
Key words and phrases. Linearization.
1
David Andrew Smith Linearization
Denition 1. If y = f(x) is a dierentiable function then the dierential dy
is dened by the equation dy = f

(x)dx where dx is an independent variable.

Example 2. Find the dierential for y =
4

x.
Solution. For y =
4

x the derivative is
dy
dx
=
1
4x
3/4
and so the dierential of y is
dy =
_
1
4x
3/4
_
dx.
Example 3. Find the dierential for y =
_
x
2
2x 3
_
10
.
Solution. For y =
_
x
2
2x 3
_
10
the derivative is
dy
dx
= 10(2 + 2x)
_
3 2x + x
2
_
9
and so the dierential of y is
dy =
_
10(2 + 2x)
_
3 2x + x
2
_
9
_
dx.
Example 4. Find the dierential for y =
_
x +

2x 1.
Solution. For y =
_
x +

2x 1 the derivative is
dy
dx
=
1 +

1 + 2x
2

1 + 2x
_
x +

1 + 2x
and so the dierential of y is
dy =
_
1 +

1 + 2x
2

1 + 2x
_
x +

1 + 2x
_
dx.
Example 5. Use dierentials to approximate the real number
3

218.
Solution. If y = f(x) =
3

x, then dy =
_
1
3x
2/3
_
dx and using dx = x = 218-216
= 2 the linear approximation is,
3

218 = f(216 + 2) f(216) + dy = 6 +

_
1
3(216)
2/3
_
(2) =
325
54
= 6.01852.
Example 6. Use dierentials to approximate the real number
3

1.02 +
4

1.02.
Page 2 of 6
David Andrew Smith Linearization
Solution. If y = f(x) = x
1/3
+ x
1/4
, then dy =
_
1
4x
3/4
+
1
3x
2/3
_
dx and using
dx = x = 1.02-1 = 0.02 the linear approximation is,
3

1.02+
4

1.02 = f(1+0.02) f(1) +dy = 2+

_
1
4
+
1
3
_
(0.02) =
1207
600
= 2.0116

Denition 7. The approximation

f(x) f(a) + f

(a)(x a)
is called the linear approximation (or sometimes the tangent line approxi-
mation) of f at a and the function
L(x) = f(a) + f

(a)(x a)
is called the linearization of f at a.
The equation of the tangent line to the curve y = f(x) at (a, f(a)) is y = f(a)+
f

(a)(xa) which is y = f(a)+f

(a)dx so that in fact we have y = f(a)+dy. Thus

when using dierentials to approximate, that is, when using f(x+x) f(x)+dy
to approximate we are using the tangent line at (a, f(a)) as an approximation to
the curve y = f(x) when a is near x.
Next we nd the linearization for a given function at a given value.
Example 8. Find the linearization of f(x) =
1

2 + x
at x
1
= 0.
Solution. The linearization of the function f(x) =
1

2 + x
at x
1
= 0 is
L(x) = f (x
1
) + f

(x
1
) (x x
1
)
L(x) = f(0) +
_

1
2(2 + 0)
3/2
_
(x 0)
L(x) =
1

2
+
_

1
4

2
_
x
Therefore, we have the linear approximation
1

2 + x

2
2
+
_

2
8
_
x
for when x is near 0.
Page 3 of 6
David Andrew Smith Linearization
Example 9. Find the linearization of f(x) =
1
(1 + 2x)
4
at x
1
= 0.
Solution. The linearization of the function f(x) =
1
(1 + 2x)
4
at x
1
= 0 is
L(x) = f (x
1
) + f

(x
1
) (x x
1
) = f(0) +
_

8
(1 + 2(0))
5
_
(x 0) = 1 8x.
Therefore, we have the linear approximation
1
(1 + 2x)
4
1 8x
for when x is near 0.
Exercises
(1) (a) Given f(x) = x
2
+ 2x, x
0
= 1, and x = 0.1, nd the change
f = f (x
0
+ x) f (x
0
) and the value of the estimate df = f

(x
0
) dx.
(b) Given f(x) = x
4
, x
0
= 1, and x = 0.1, nd the change f =
f (x
0
+ x) f (x
0
) and the value of the estimate df = f

(x
0
) dx. (c)
Given f(x) = x
3
2x + 3 x
0
= 2, and x = 0.1, nd the change
f = f (x
0
+ x) f (x
0
) and the value of the estimate df = f

(x
0
) dx.
(2) Write a dierential formula that estimates the change in the volume V =
4
3
r
3
of a sphere when the radius changes from r
0
to r
0
+ dr.
(3) Write a dierential formula that estimates the change in the lateral surface
area S = r
_
r
2
+ h
2
of a right circular cone when the radius changes
from r
0
to r
0
+ dr.
(4) Find the dierential dy of the functions
(a) y = f(x) =
1
3
cos
_
6x 1
2
_
(b) y = f(x) =

x +
1

x
.
(5) Find the dierential dy of each of the following functions
(a) y = f(x) =
2x
1 + x
2
(b) xy
2
4x
3/2
y = 0
(c) y = f(x) = 4 tan
_
x
2
3
_
(d) y = f(x) = 2 cot
_
1

x
_
(e) y = f(x) = xe
x
(f) y = f(x) = ln
_
1 + x
2
_
Page 4 of 6
David Andrew Smith Linearization
(6) Use dierentials to nd an approximate value for the following real num-
bers
(a) cos 31.5

(b)
4

624 (c) (2.99)

3
.
(7) Find the linearization for each of the following functions at the given value
of x.
(a) f(x) =
1

2 + x
at x
1
= 0
(b) f(x) =
1
(1 + 2x)
4
at x
1
= 0
(c) f(x) = x +
1
x
at x = a
(d) f(x) = x
2
at x = a
(e) f(x) = cos x at x = a
(f) f(x) = tan x at x = a
(g) f(x) = e
x
at x = a
(h) f(x) = ln(1 + x) at x = a
(i) f(x) = x +
1
x
at x = a
(j) f(x) =
x
x + 1
at x
0
= 1.3
(8) Show that the linearization of f(x) = (1 + x)
k
at x = 0 is L(x) = 1 + kx
for a constant k.
(9) Find the linearization of f(x) =

x + 1+sin x at x = 0. How is it related

to the individual linearizations of

x + 1 and sin x at x = 0?
References
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dierential and integral calculus. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 9780585276779
[3] Briggs, William L. and Lyle Cochran Calculus: Early Transcendentals. First Edition. Pub-
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[4] Fraleigh, John B. 1980. Calculus with analytic geometry. Addison-Wesley series in mathe-
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[5] Larson, Ron, Robert P. Hostetler, and David E. Heyd. 1986. Calculus with analytic geometry.
Lexington, Mass: D.C. Heath. ISBN: 9780669095685
[6] Stewart, James. 2003. Calculus. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole. ISBN: 9780534393397
[7] Stein, Sherman K., and Anthony Barcellos. 1992. Calculus and analytic geometry. New York,
N.Y.: McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 9780070611757
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[9] Swokowski, Earl William, and Earl William Swokowski. 1991. Calculus. The Prindle, Weber
& Schmidt series in mathematics. Boston: PWS-KENT Pub. Co. ISBN: 9780534924928
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[10] Tan, Soo T. Calculus Early Transcendentals. Publisher: Brooks Cole; First edition. ISBN:
978-0534465544
[11] Thomas, George B., and Ross L. Finney. 1992. Calculus and analytic geometry. Reading,
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[12] Thomas, George B., Maurice D. Weir, Joel Hass, and Frank R. Giordano. Thomas Cal-
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David Andrew Smith, Department of Mathematics, University of Texas at Arling-
ton, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
E-mail address: davidsmith@uta.edu
Page 6 of 6