Celeb Glow
news | April 05, 2026

Finding the equation to a tangent line of ln(xy)

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I am having an issue solving this problem on my final prep sheet. It seems I need to use implicit differentiation because of the two variables but I am not exactly sure if that is correct.

"Find the equation of the tangent line to ln(xy) = 2x at the point (1, e^2)."

I assumed first you subtract the 2x to the left side and then implicitly differentiate but I am getting completely lost in it.

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2 Answers

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An idea: assuming the implict equation is

$$2x=\log xy=\log x+\log y\implies \log y=2x-\log x\implies y=\frac{e^{2x}}x$$

and now you can differentiate:

$$y'=\frac{2xe^{2x}-e^{2x}}{x^2}\;\;\text{and etc.}$$

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As $\ln(xy)=\ln x+\ln y$ for $x,y>0$

we write $$2x=\ln x+\ln y$$

We know $\displaystyle\frac{dy}{dx}$ represents the gradient of the tangent

So, differentiating wrt $x$ $$2=\frac1x+\frac1y\frac{dy}{dx}$$

At $\displaystyle(1,e^2),2=1+\frac1{e^2}\frac{dy}{dx}\implies \frac{dy}{dx}_{\text{ at}(1,e^2)}=e^2$

Do you know how to find the equation of a straight line passing through a given point and having a given gradient

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