• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Math 135 Business Calculus Spring 2009Class Notes
1.7 The Chain Rule
THE EXTENDED POWER RULE
According to the Power Rule, the derivative of the power function
y
=
x
k
is given by
ddx
(
x
k
) =
kx
k
−
1
.
For a power function
y
=
x
k
, we have a variable
x
raised to a power
k
. What is the derivative if,instead of the variable
x
raised to a power, we have a function raised to a power, such as
ddx
£
g
(
x
)
§
k
In particular, suppose we want the derivative of 
y
=
£
g
(
x
)
§
2
. We can compute this using the ProductRule:
ddx
£
g
(
x
)
§
2
=
ddx
£
g
(
x
)
·
g
(
x
)
§
=
g
0
(
x
)
·
g
(
x
) +
g
(
x
)
·
g
0
(
x
)= 2
g
(
x
)
·
g
0
(
x
)This resembles the result of di
ff 
erentiating
y
=
x
2
. The exponent 2 has been pulled down in front of the function and the power has been reduced by 1. However, we also have a factor of 
g
0
(
x
) that appearsin the derivative. This is a special case of the following general rule:
THEOREM 7 The Extended Power Rule
Suppose that
g
(
x
) is a di
ff 
erentiable function of 
x
. Then, for any real number
k
,
ddx
£
g
(
x
)
§
k
=
k
£
g
(
x
)
§
k
−
1
·
ddx
£
g
(
x
)
§
=
k
£
g
(
x
)
§
k
−
1
·
g
0
(
x
)
.
In this rule, we can think of 
g
(
x
) as the “inside” function and the
k
th power as the “outside”function. The rule can then be viewed as follows.
ddx
£
g
(
x
)
§
k
=
derivative of power function
 z 
 
}| 
 
{ 
k
£
g
(
x
)
§
k
−
1
·
g
0
(
x
)
 |{z 
 
 } 
derivative of inside function
EXAMPLE
Di
ff 
erentiate
f 
(
x
) = (7
x
2
+
x
3
)
5
.
27
 
28
Chapter 1
Di 
ff  
erentiation
EXAMPLE
Di
ff 
erentiate
h
(
x
) = (7
x
2
+
x
3
)
1
/
2
.
EXAMPLE
Di
ff 
erentiate
f 
(
x
) =
4
r 
x
+ 3
x
−
2.
EXAMPLE
Di
ff 
erentiate
f 
(
x
) = (3
x
−
5)
4
(7
−
x
)
10
.
 
1.7
The Chain Rule 
29
COMPOSITION OF FUNCTIONS AND THE CHAIN RULE
The Extended Power Rule is a special case of a more general di
ff 
erentiation rule that can be used tocompute the derivative of the composition of any two functions.
EXAMPLE
The number of gallons of paint needed to paint a house depends upon the size of thehouse. A gallon of paint typically covers 250 square feet. This means the number of gallons of paint,
n
, is a function of the area,
A
, to be painted according to the function
n
=
g
(
A
) =
A
250
.
Suppose a gallon of paint costs $27.50. Then the cost
C 
of 
n
gallons of paint is given by the function
C 
=
f 
(
n
) = 27
.
5
n.
Find a function for the cost
C 
to paint an area of 
A
square feet.In the above example, the cost
C 
of 
n
gallons of paint is a function of 
n
,
C 
=
f 
(
n
), where
n
is itself a function of the area
A
to be painted,
n
=
g
(
A
). The cost to paint an area
A
is then a “function of afunction,” or a
composite function 
. If the function giving
C 
in terms of 
A
is denoted
h
, so
C 
=
h
(
A
),then we write
C 
=
h
(
A
) = (
f 
◦
g
)(
A
)
.
The function
h
is called the
composition 
of the functions
f 
and
g
.
DEFINITION OF COMPOSITION OF FUNCTIONS
Suppose
f 
(
x
) and
g
(
x
) are two functions. The
composition
of 
f 
and
g
, denoted
f 
◦
g
, is defined by(
f 
◦
g
)(
x
) =
f 
°
g
(
x
)
¢
.
If we represent the two functions
f 
and
g
by two machines, we can visualize thecomposition of functions as shown in thefigure. The input to
g
is
x
. The output
g
(
x
) of 
g
is used as the input to
f 
. Theoutput to
f 
is then
f 
°
g
(
x
)
¢
.
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...