1. Take the natural logarithm of both sides to prepare for implicit differentiation.
y=xy
lny=ln(xy)
lny=ylnx
2. Differentiate implicitly with respect to $x$.
dxd(lny)=dxd(ylnx)
Using the product rule on the right hand side:
y1dxdy=dxdylnx+y(x1)
3. Rearrange the equation to make $\frac{dy}{dx}$ the subject.
y1dxdy−lnxdxdy=xy
dxdy(y1−lnx)=xy
dxdy(y1−ylnx)=xy
dxdy=x(1−ylnx)y2
4. Identify the condition for the tangent to be parallel to the y-axis.
A tangent parallel to the y-axis has an undefined gradient (it is a vertical line), which occurs when the denominator of dxdy is zero.
x(1−ylnx)=0
Since we are given x>0:
1−ylnx=0⟹ylnx=1
5. Solve for $y$ using the initial logarithmic equation.
From Step 1, we have the identity lny=ylnx.
Substitute ylnx=1 into this equation:
lny=1
y=e
6. Solve for $x$ and state the equation of the tangent line.
Substitute y=e back into ylnx=1:
elnx=1
lnx=e1
x=ee1
Since the tangent is a vertical line, its equation is simply x equals the x-coordinate of this point:
x=ee1
答案dxdy=x(1−ylnx)y2
Equation of tangent: x=ee1