Exercises Nr.

1
,,Grundlagen der Materialphysik A, Spring 2010
Andrei A. Gusev, Patrick Ilg, ETH Zurich

22. Februar 2010

Exercise 1: Derivatives
df (x)
The first derivative f 0 (x) dx of a function f (x) is defined by
f (x + h) f (x)
f 0 (x) = lim . (1)
h0 h
Calculate f 0 (x) for the following functions (where a > 0 is a real number):

a) f (x) = (1 + ax)2 ,

b) f (x) = xa ,

c) f (x) = ln (ax),

d) f (x) = 1 + x (exp ax).

Exercise 2: Integrals
R x1 0
Calculate the total change of f 0 over the interval x [x0 , x1 ], f = x0 f (x)dx, for the following
functions

a) f 0 (x) = b + 12 bx,

b) f 0 (x) = b/x,

c) f 0 (x) = bebx ,

with b another real number.

Exercise 3: Partial derivatives

(ax)n
Find the following partial derivatives of the functions f (x, y) = ax2 + by n and f (x, y) = y +
y ln(a + bx) with constants a, b, n:
f (x,y)
a) x

f (x,y)
b) y

2 f (x,y)
c) x2

2 f (x,y)
d) y 2

1
 2 f (x,y)
e) xy

2 f (x,y)
f) yx

Exercise 4: Exact differentials

The total differential

df = A(x, y)dx + B(x, y)dy (2)

is called an exact differential if there exists a function f (x, y) which changes according to df
when its arguments x, y are changed. Then,

A(x, y) = f /x, B(x, y) = f /y. (3)

If, on the other hand, functions A, B satisfy the integrability condition

A B
= (4)
y x
then a function (potential) f (x, y) exists with f /x = A and f /y = B.
Is df for the following sets of functions A(x, y), B(x, y) an exact differential for general values
of the constants a, b, c or only for special choices? Find the corresponding potential f .

a) A = ax, B = by

b) A = ay, B = bx

c) A = axy 2 , B = bx3 y + c

d) A = ax/y, B = b(x/y)2

e) A = x(x2 y), B = cx2