DIFFERENTIATION RULES
BASIC CALCULUS – LESSON 10
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you shall be able
1. illustrate different rules on differentiation; and
2. apply the differentiation rules in computing the derivatives of
algebraic functions.
ALTERNATIVE DEFINITION OF DERIVATIVE
Let 𝒇 be a function defined in an open interval 𝑰 ⊆ ℝ, and let 𝒙 ∈ 𝑰.
The derivative of the function 𝒇 at 𝒙 is
𝒇 𝒙 + 𝒉 − 𝒇(𝒙) if this limit exists.
𝒇′(𝒙) = 𝒍𝒊𝒎
𝒉→𝟎 𝒉
This definition of derivative may be used if we are tasked only to find the derivative
of the function.
Theorem 1. THE DERIVATIVE OF A CONSTANT
A constant function 𝒇 𝒙 is defined by 𝒇 𝒙 = 𝒄 has a derivative 𝒇′ 𝒙 = 𝟎.
In other words, the derivative of a constant is zero.
𝒅𝒚 𝒅
= 𝒄 =𝟎
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
Example 1: Find the derivative of 𝒚 = 𝟓.
𝒅𝒚 𝒅
= (𝟓) = 𝟎
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
Theorem 2. THE POWER RULE
Let 𝒚 = 𝒇 𝒙 = 𝒙𝒏 , where 𝒏 is a positive integer, then for every real value of 𝒙
𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝒏
= 𝒙 = 𝒏𝒙𝒏−𝟏 where 𝒏 > 𝟎
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
Example 2: Find the derivative of 𝒚 = 𝒙𝟒
𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝟒
= 𝒙 = 𝟒𝒙𝟒−𝟏 = 𝟒𝒙𝟑
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
Theorem 3. THE CONSTANT-MULTIPLE RULE
The derivative of a constant multiplies a function is the constant times the derivative as
illustrated by the formula below.
𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝒅
= [𝒄𝒇 𝒙 ] = 𝒄 [𝒇 𝒙 ]
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
Example 3: Find the derivative of 𝒚 = 𝟑𝒙𝟔
𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝟔
𝒅 𝟔
= 𝟑𝒙 = 𝟑 𝒙 = 𝟑(𝟔) 𝒙𝟔−𝟏 = 𝟏𝟖𝒙𝟓
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
Theorem 4. SUM AND DIFFERENCE RULE
Let 𝒚 = 𝒖 + 𝒗 and 𝒚 = 𝒖 − 𝒗 where 𝒖 = 𝒇(𝒙) and 𝒗 = 𝒈(𝒙) are differentiable
functions of 𝒙, then
𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝒅 𝒅
= 𝒖+𝒗 = 𝒖 + 𝒗
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝒅 𝒅
= 𝒖−𝒗 = 𝒖 − 𝒗
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
The derivative of a sum of a finite number of differentiable functions is a sum of the
derivatives, and the derivative of the difference equals the difference of the
derivatives.
Theorem 4. SUM AND DIFFERENCE RULE
Example 4: Find the derivative of 𝒚 = 𝟑𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏
𝒅𝒚 𝒅
= 𝟑𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
𝒅 𝟐
𝒅 𝒅
= 𝟑𝒙 + 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
𝒅 𝟐 𝒅
=𝟑 𝒙 +𝟐 𝒙 −𝟎
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
= 𝟑 𝟐 𝒙𝟐−𝟏 + 𝟐(𝟏)𝒙𝟏−𝟏 = 𝟔𝒙 + 𝟐
Theorem 4. SUM AND DIFFERENCE RULE
Example 5: Find the derivative of 𝒚 = 𝟔𝒙𝟒 − 𝟕𝒙𝟑 + 𝟓𝒙𝟐
𝒅𝒚 𝒅
= 𝟔𝒙𝟒 − 𝟕𝒙𝟑 + 𝟓𝒙𝟐
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
𝒅 𝟒
𝒅 𝟑
𝒅
= 𝟔𝒙 − 𝟕𝒙 + 𝟓𝒙𝟐
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
𝒅 𝟒 𝒅 𝟑 𝒅 𝟐
=𝟔 𝒙 −𝟕 𝒙 +𝟓 𝒙
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
= 𝟔(𝟒) 𝒙𝟒−𝟏 − 𝟕(𝟑) 𝒙𝟑−𝟏 + 𝟓(𝟐) 𝒙𝟐−𝟏
= 𝟐𝟒𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝟏𝒙𝟐 + 𝟏𝟎𝒙
Theorem 5. THE PRODUCT RULE
Let 𝒚 = 𝒖 • 𝒗 where 𝒖 = 𝒇(𝒙) and 𝒗 = 𝒈(𝒙) are differentiable functions of 𝒙,
then
𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝒅𝒗 𝒅𝒖
= 𝒖•𝒗 =𝒖 +𝒗
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
or
𝒅𝒚 𝒅
= 𝒖 • 𝒗 = 𝒖𝒅𝒗 + 𝒗𝒅𝒖
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
The derivative of a product of two functions is the first function multiply the derivative
of the second plus the second function multiplied by the derivative of the first.
Theorem 5. THE PRODUCT RULE
Example 6: Find the derivative of 𝒚 = (𝒙𝟑 + 𝟐𝒙)(𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏)
Let 𝒖 = 𝒙𝟑 + 𝟐𝒙 𝒅𝒖 = 𝟑𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐 𝒅𝒚 𝒅
= 𝒖 • 𝒗 = 𝒖𝒅𝒗 + 𝒗𝒅𝒖
𝒗 = 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏 𝒅𝒗 = 𝟐 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
𝒅𝒚 𝒅
= 𝒖 • 𝒗 = (𝒙𝟑 +𝟐𝒙) 𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏 (𝟑𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐)
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
= 𝟐𝒙𝟑 + 𝟒𝒙 + 𝟔𝒙𝟑 + 𝟒𝒙 − 𝟑𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐
= 𝟖𝒙𝟑 − 𝟑𝒙𝟐 + 𝟖𝒙 − 𝟐
Theorem 5. THE PRODUCT RULE
Example 7: Find the derivative of 𝒚 = (𝒙𝟑 − 𝟑𝒙𝟐 )(𝒙𝟐 + 𝟒𝒙 + 𝟐)
Let 𝒖 = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟑𝒙𝟐 𝒅𝒖 = 𝟑𝒙𝟐 − 𝟔𝒙 𝒅𝒚 𝒅
= 𝒖 • 𝒗 = 𝒖𝒅𝒗 + 𝒗𝒅𝒖
𝒗 = 𝒙𝟐 + 𝟒𝒙 + 𝟐 𝒅𝒗 = 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟒 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
𝒅𝒚 𝒅
= 𝒖 • 𝒗 = (𝒙𝟑 −𝟑𝒙𝟐 )(𝟐𝒙 + 𝟒) + 𝒙𝟐 + 𝟒𝒙 + 𝟐 (𝟑𝒙𝟐 − 𝟔𝒙)
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
= 𝟐𝒙𝟒 + 𝟒𝒙𝟑 − 𝟔𝒙𝟑 − 𝟏𝟐𝒙𝟐 + 𝟑𝒙𝟒 + 𝟏𝟐𝒙𝟑 + 𝟔𝒙𝟐 − 𝟔𝒙𝟑 − 𝟐𝟒𝒙𝟐 − 𝟏𝟐𝒙
= 𝟓𝒙𝟒 + 𝟒𝒙𝟑 − 𝟑𝟎𝒙𝟐 − 𝟏𝟐𝒙
Theorem 6. THE QUOTIENT RULE
𝒖
Let 𝒚 = where 𝒖 = 𝒇(𝒙) and 𝒗 = 𝒈(𝒙) are differentiable functions of 𝒙, then
𝒗
𝒅𝒖 𝒅𝒗
𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝒖 𝒗 −𝒖
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
= =
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒗 𝒗𝟐
or
𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝒖 𝒗𝒅𝒖 − 𝒖𝒅𝒗
= =
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒗 𝒗𝟐
The derivative of a quotient of two functions is the denominator times the derivative of
the numerator minus the numerator times the derivative of the denominator, all divided
by the square of the denominator.
Theorem 6. THE QUOTIENT RULE
𝒙𝟐 +𝟏
Example 8: Find the derivative of 𝒚 =
𝒙𝟑 −𝟏
Let 𝒖 = 𝒙𝟐 + 𝟏 𝒅𝒖 = 𝟐𝒙 𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝒖 𝒗𝒅𝒖 − 𝒖𝒅𝒗
= =
𝒗 = 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟏 𝒅𝒗 = 𝟑𝒙𝟐 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒗 𝒗𝟐
𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝒖 𝒙𝟑 − 𝟏 𝟐𝒙 − 𝒙𝟐 + 𝟏 (𝟑𝒙𝟐 )
= =
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒗 (𝒙𝟑 − 𝟏)𝟐
𝟒 𝟐 𝟑
𝟒
𝟐𝒙 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟑𝒙 − 𝟑𝒙 −𝒙
𝟒 − 𝟑𝒙
𝟐 − 𝟐𝒙 𝒙(𝒙 + 𝟑𝒙 + 𝟐)
= = 𝟑 𝟐
= −
(𝒙𝟑 − 𝟏)𝟐 (𝒙 − 𝟏) (𝒙𝟑 − 𝟏)𝟐
Theorem 6. THE QUOTIENT RULE
(𝒙𝟐 −𝟏)(𝒙+𝟏)
Example 9: Find the derivative of 𝒚 =
𝒙𝟐 −𝟐𝒙+𝟏
Simplify first the function
(𝒙𝟐 − 𝟏)(𝒙 + 𝟏)
𝒚=
𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏
(𝒙 − 𝟏)(𝒙 + 𝟏)(𝒙 + 𝟏) 𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏
= =
(𝒙 − 𝟏)(𝒙 − 𝟏) 𝒙−𝟏
Theorem 6. THE QUOTIENT RULE
(𝒙𝟐 −𝟏)(𝒙+𝟏)𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏
Example 9: Find the derivative of 𝒚 =
𝒙𝟐 −𝟐𝒙+𝟏 → 𝒙−𝟏
Let 𝒖 = 𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏 𝒅𝒖 = 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟐 𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝒖 𝒗𝒅𝒖 − 𝒖𝒅𝒗
= =
𝒗=𝒙−𝟏 𝒅𝒗 = 𝟏 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒗 𝒗𝟐
𝒅𝒚 𝒅 𝒖 𝒙 − 𝟏 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟐 − 𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙 + 𝟏 (𝟏)
= =
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒗 (𝒙 − 𝟏)𝟐
𝟐𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟐 − 𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟏 𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐𝒙 − 𝟑
= 𝟐
=
(𝒙 − 𝟏) (𝒙 − 𝟏)𝟐