LESSON 25: Rules of Differentiation

“You, you, can’t even break a rule, how would you be expected to break bone!
- Khan (from the movie “Star Trek: Into Darkness” )

O.M. “For specialised military campaigns, there are what are known as rules of engagement
which define the directives and conditional constraints among involved parties for carrying
out such a campaign. Well, mathematicians are not (necessarily) warriors but when we engage
in differentiation campaigns, there are rules we must follow or else….we may break a bone! ”

25.1 RULES FOR MULTIPLE OF A FUNCTION

Recall: Differentiation is the process of obtaining the derivative of a function.

In general,
𝑑 𝑑 n
• 1. ( cxn ) = c (x )
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑
• 2. ( cf(x) ) = c f ' (x) , where c and n are constants
𝑑𝑥

Example 1: Differentiate each of the following with respect to x .

(a) y = 5 (b) 6 √𝑥 (c) f (x) = 8 𝑥 −√3 + 6
Solution:
(a) y=5 // By data.//
≡ 5x0 //Since x0 = 1, this is 5 × 1 = 5 //
𝑑 𝑑
(5x0) = 5 × (x0) //Applying rule 1//
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
= 5 × (0x 0 – 1) = 5 × 0
=0
𝒅
// This result gives us rule 3: ( c ) = 0 , where c is a constant.//
𝒅𝒙
 𝑑 𝑑 1
(b) (6 √𝑥 ) ≡ (6𝑥 ) 2
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑 1
= 6× (𝑥 2 ) //Applying rule 1.//
𝑑𝑥
1
1
= 6 × 𝑥 2−1
2
1
= 3𝑥 −2
𝟑
=
√𝒙

(c) f (x) = 8 𝑥 −√3 + 6

𝑑 𝑑
(8 𝑥 −√3 + 6 ) = 8 × ( 𝑥 −√3 + 6 ) //Applying rule 2.//
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

= 8 × (−√3 + 6) 𝑥 −√3 + 6−1 )

= 8(−√𝟑 + 𝟔) 𝒙−√𝟑 + 𝟓

25.2 RULES FOR SUM AND DIFFERENCE OF TWO FUNCTIONS

In general: If u = f (x) and v = g (x) , then

𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
4. ( f(x) + g(x) ) = ( f(x) ) + (g(x))
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
= f ' (x) + g ' (x) //Sum rule.//

𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
5. ( f(x) – g(x) ) = ( f(x) ) – (g(x))
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
= f ' (x) – g ' (x) //Difference rule.//

Example 2: Differentiate y = 4x3 + 7x with respect to x

Solution:
y = 4x3 + 7x //By data.//
𝑑𝑦 𝑑 𝑑
= ( 4x3) + ( 7x ) //By rule 4. //
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
= 4 (3x2) + 7 (x0) // By power rule and rule 1.//
= 12 x2 + 7
Example 3: Differentiate y = 5x3 – 4x2 with respect to x
Solution:
y = 5x3 – 4x2 //By data.//
𝑑𝑦 𝑑 𝑑
= ( 5x3) – ( 4x2 ) //By rule 5. //
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
= 5 (3x2) – 8(x1) // By power rule and rule 1.//
= 15 x2 – 8x

25.3 PRODUCT AND QUOTIENT RULES

In general: If u = f (x) and v = g (x) , then

𝑑
5. ( f(x) g(x) ) = f (x) g '(x) + g(x) f '(x)
𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑢
= u + v //This is the product rule.//
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

𝑑 𝑓(𝑥) 𝑔(𝑥) 𝑓 ′ (𝑥) − 𝑓 (𝑥) 𝑔 ′ (𝑥)

6. ( )=
𝑑𝑥 𝑔(𝑥) [ 𝑔(𝑥)]2
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑣
𝑣 − 𝑢
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
= //This is known as the quotient rule. //
𝑣2
7𝑥
Example 4: Differentiate y = with respect to x.
5𝑥 2 − 2
Solution:
7𝑥
y= //By data.//
5𝑥 2 − 2
Let u = 7x and v = 5x2 – 2 //Declarations.//
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑣
=7 and = 10x
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑣
𝑣 − 𝑢
𝑑𝑦 7(5𝑥 2 −2 ) − 7𝑥 (10𝑥) 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
Thus, = //Quotient Rule: //
𝑑𝑥 (5𝑥 2 − 2)2 𝑣2
−35𝑥 2 −14
=
(5𝑥 2 − 2)2

−𝟕(𝟓𝒙𝟐 + 𝟐)
= 𝟐
(𝟓𝒙𝟐 − 𝟐)
Example 5: Find f ' (x) for each of the following functions.
(a) f (x) = x2 sin x (b) f (x) = (3x2 – 1) cos x
Solution:
(a) f (x) = x2 sin x //By data.//
Let u = x2 and v = sin x
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑣
𝑑𝑥
= 2x //power rule // and = cos x
𝑑𝑥
Thus, f ' (x) = sin x (2x) + x2 (cos x) //By product rule.//
= 2x sin x + x2 cos x

(b) f (x) = (3x2 – 1) cos x //By data.//

Let u = 3x2 – 1 and v = cos x //Declarations.//
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑣
= 6x //power rule and rule 4 // and = – sin x
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
Thus, f ' (x) = cos x (6x) + (3x2 – 1) (– sin x ) //By product rule.//
= 6x cos x – (3x2 – 1) sin x

25.4 (a) CHAIN RULE

7. The chain rule applies when you have composite functions

So, if y = g (u) , u = h (x) and y = f (x) = g (h (x) ) ,
Then f ' (x) = g ' (h(x)) ∙ h ' (x) //Derivative of external function × derivative of internal
function.//
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑢
i.e. = ∙ //This is known as the chain rule.//
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑥

Example 6:
𝑑𝑦
Find if
𝑑𝑥
1
(a) y = (x3 – 4x2 + 7)10 (b) y = 3
√𝑥 2 − 3

Solution:
(a) y = (x3 – 4x2 + 7)10 //By data.// f (u) = u10 , g (v) = v3 – 4v2 + 7
𝑑𝑦
Thus, = 10(x3 – 4x2 + 7)9 × (3x2 – 8x)
𝑑𝑥

= 10x(3x – 8)(x3 – 4x2 + 7)9

 1
1
(b) y = 3 ≡ (𝑥 2 − 3)−3 //By data.//
√𝑥 2 − 3
4
𝑑𝑦 1
Thus, = − (𝑥 2 − 3)−3 × (2x)
𝑑𝑥 3
𝟐𝒙
= − 𝟑
𝟑 √(𝒙𝟐 − 𝟑)𝟒

25.4 (b) SPECIAL APPLICATIONS OF CHAIN RULE

Derivatives of sinn x and cos n x :
𝑑𝑦
Example 7: Find the derivative of each of the following trigonometric equations
𝑑𝑥
(a) y = sin4 x (b) y = cos5 x
Solution:
(a) y = sin4 x = (sin x)4
𝑑𝑦
= 4 sin3 x × cos x
𝑑𝑥
= 4 sin3x cos x

(b) y = cos5 x
𝑑𝑦
= 5 cos4 x × (- sin x)
𝑑𝑥
= - 5 cos4 x sin x
The general rules are as follows:
𝑑
• sinn x = n cosn - 1 x
𝑑𝑥
𝑑
• cosn x = – n sinn - 1 x
𝑑𝑥
Derivatives of sin ax and cos ax ; b sin ax and b cos ax
Example 8: Find the derivative f ' (x) of each of the following trigonometric equations, where
a is a constant.
(a) f (x) = sin ax (b) f (x) = cos ax

Solution:
(a) f (x) = sin ax
f ' (x) = cos ax × a = a cos ax
(b) f (x) = cos ax
f ' (x) = - a sin ax

Derivatives of sin (ax ± b) and cos (ax ± b )

The general rules are as follows:
𝑑
• sin (ax ± b) = a cos (ax ± b)
𝑑𝑥
𝑑
• cos (ax ± b) = – a sin (ax ± b)
𝑑𝑥

Example 9: Differentiate each of the following trigonometric expressions with respect to x.

1 𝜋 1 𝜋
(a) sin ( x – ) (b) cos ( x + )
3 2 5 4

Solution:
1 𝜋
(a) Let f (x) = sin ( x – )
3 2
1 𝜋 1
f ' (x) = cos ( x – )×
3 2 3
𝟏 𝝅
𝐜𝐨𝐬 ( 𝒙 – )
𝟑 𝟐
=
𝟑

1 𝜋
(b) Let f (x) = cos ( x + )
5 4
𝟏 𝝅
𝐬𝐢𝐧 ( 𝒙 +
𝟓 𝟒
)
f ' (x) = −
𝟓
 TAKE AWAYS
The rules of differentiation are categorised into:
• Rules for multiples of a function (See 25. 1)
• Rules for sum and difference of two functions. (See 25.2)
• Product and Quotient rules. (See 25.3)
• Chain Rule (See 25.4(a))
The Chain Rule can be applied to differentiating the following: (See 25.4(b) )
• Derivatives of sinn x and cos n x :
• Derivatives of sin ax and cos ax ; b sin ax and b cos ax
• Derivatives of sin (ax ± b) and cos (ax ± b )