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NCERT Exemplar · Q46

Q.Differentiate with respect to xx using first principle: xcos⁡xx\cos x.

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The first principle asks us to compute lim⁡h→0(x+h)cos⁡(x+h)−xcos⁡xh\lim_{h \to 0} \frac{(x+h)\cos(x+h) - x\cos x}{h} by expanding the product and using standard limits. The derivative is cos⁡x−xsin⁡x\boxed{\cos x - x\sin x}.

Why first principles?

The first principle of differentiation—also called the definition via limits—builds the derivative from the ground up. For any function f(x)f(x), we write

f′(x)=lim⁡h→0f(x+h)−f(x)h.f'(x) = \lim_{h \to 0} \frac{f(x+h) - f(x)}{h}.

This captures the instantaneous rate of change by shrinking the interval hh to zero. For f(x)=xcos⁡xf(x) = x\cos x, a product of two functions, we could reach for the product rule—but the question demands we derive it from scratch using only the limit definition and standard trigonometric limits.

The key tools we'll need are:

  • lim⁡h→0sin⁡hh=1\lim_{h \to 0} \frac{\sin h}{h} = 1
  • lim⁡h→0cos⁡h−1h=0\lim_{h \to 0} \frac{\cos h - 1}{h} = 0

These are the bedrock limits of calculus, often proved geometrically or via squeeze theorem.


Step-by-step derivation

1. Set up the difference quotient.

Write f(x)=xcos⁡xf(x) = x\cos x. Then

f′(x)=lim⁡h→0(x+h)cos⁡(x+h)−xcos⁡xh.f'(x) = \lim_{h \to 0} \frac{(x+h)\cos(x+h) - x\cos x}{h}.

2. Expand the product in the numerator.

The term (x+h)cos⁡(x+h)(x+h)\cos(x+h) distributes to xcos⁡(x+h)+hcos⁡(x+h)x\cos(x+h) + h\cos(x+h), so

f′(x)=lim⁡h→0xcos⁡(x+h)+hcos⁡(x+h)−xcos⁡xh.f'(x) = \lim_{h \to 0} \frac{x\cos(x+h) + h\cos(x+h) - x\cos x}{h}.

Rearrange by grouping the xx terms:

=lim⁡h→0x[cos⁡(x+h)−cos⁡x]+hcos⁡(x+h)h.= \lim_{h \to 0} \frac{x[\cos(x+h) - \cos x] + h\cos(x+h)}{h}.

3. Split the limit into two parts.

=lim⁡h→0[x⋅cos⁡(x+h)−cos⁡xh+cos⁡(x+h)].= \lim_{h \to 0} \left[ x \cdot \frac{\cos(x+h) - \cos x}{h} + \cos(x+h) \right].

The second term is straightforward: as h→0h \to 0, cos⁡(x+h)→cos⁡x\cos(x+h) \to \cos x. The first term requires more work.

4. Handle the cosine difference using the sum-to-product identity.

Recall the identity

cos⁡A−cos⁡B=−2sin⁡(A+B2)sin⁡(A−B2).\cos A - \cos B = -2\sin\left(\frac{A+B}{2}\right)\sin\left(\frac{A-B}{2}\right).

Set A=x+hA = x+h and B=xB = x:

cos⁡(x+h)−cos⁡x=−2sin⁡(x+h2)sin⁡(h2).\cos(x+h) - \cos x = -2\sin\left(x + \frac{h}{2}\right)\sin\left(\frac{h}{2}\right).

So

cos⁡(x+h)−cos⁡xh=−2sin⁡(x+h2)⋅sin⁡(h/2)h.\frac{\cos(x+h) - \cos x}{h} = -2\sin\left(x + \frac{h}{2}\right) \cdot \frac{\sin(h/2)}{h}.

5. Simplify the ratio sin⁡(h/2)h\frac{\sin(h/2)}{h}. …

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