Derivatives of Parametric, Polar, and Vector Functions - AP Calculus BC

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Question

Find the derivative of the following set of parametric equations:

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Answer

We start by taking the derivative of x and y with respect to t, as both of the equations are only in terms of this variable:

The problem asks us to find the derivative of the parametric equations, dy/dx, and we can see from the work below that the dt term is cancelled when we divide dy/dt by dx/dt, leaving us with dy/dx:

So now that we know dx/dt and dy/dt, all we must do to find the derivative of our parametric equations is divide dy/dt by dx/dt:

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