Proof for Cobb-douglas production function (or utility function) \\ \\

U = [\alpha*X^{p} + (1-\alpha)* Y^{p} ]^{1/p} \\ \\

Raise\ both\ sides\ by\ p \\ \\
U^p = [\alpha*X^{p} + (1-\alpha)* Y^{p} ] \\ \\
Take\ the\ log\ of\ both\ sides \\ \\
ln(U^p) = ln([\alpha*X^{p} + (1-\alpha)* Y^{p} ]) \\ \\
\text{ Since p = 0 (by definition) and anything to the power of 0 equals 1 we ha
ve} \\ \\
ln(1) = ln([\alpha*1 + (1-\alpha)*1 ]) \\ \\
\text{ the alphas cancel each other out and we are left with ln(1) equals ln(1).
Since ln(1) = 0 we need to use a handy little trick.} \\ \\
\text{ if we divide both sides by p, we get 0/0 = 0/0 which is an indeterminate
function. this means we can apply l'hopitas rule} \\ \\
\frac{ln(U^p)}{p} = \frac{ln([\alpha*X^{p} + (1-\alpha)* Y^{p} ])}{p} \\ \\
\text{to apply l'hopitas rule we take the derivative of both the top numerator a
nd the denominator of a function. Since both sides equal 0/0 we take the derivat
ive of the numerator and denominator on both sides with respect to p} \\ \\
ln(U^p) \text{ can be re-written as p * ln(U)} \\ \\
\text { so the first order derivative of the left hand side becomes:} \\ \\
ln(U) / 1 \\ \\
\text{ if you have trouble with this part follow the link for l'hopitas rule at
the bottom of the page } \\ \\
\text{ The derivation of the right-hand side is a bit more tricky. The bottom pa
rt becomes 1 and the top part becomes:} \\ \\
ln([\alpha*1 + (1-\alpha)*1 ])