The Chain Rule:

d
(f (g(x)) = f 0 (g(x)) · g 0 (x).
dx
√
Example 1. Find the derivative of y = x3 + x + 2 = f (g(x)), where
√
f (u) = u = u1/2 and g(x) = x3 + x + 2, so...
f 0 (g(x))
z }| {
d p 3 d 3

1/2 1 3
−1/2
x +x+2= x +x+2 = x +x+2 (3x2 + 1)
dx dx 2 | {z }
g 0 (x)

(*) The chain rule can also be expressed as follows. If y = f (u) and
u = g(x), then y = f (g(x)) and
f 0 (g(x)) g 0 (x)
z}|{ z}|{
dy dy du
= ·
dx du dx

1
Explanation: With y = f (u) and u = g(x), linear approximation says
that if ∆x ≈ 0, then
∆u = g(x + ∆x) − g(x) ≈ g 0 (x)∆x. (1)
Likewise, if ∆u ≈ 0, then
∆y = f (u + ∆u) − f (u) ≈ f 0 (u)∆u. (2)
Now, if ∆x is close to 0, then so is ∆u (because g 0 (x) is fixed), so if
∆x ≈ 0, then using both approximations (1) and (2) gives
≈∆u
z }| {
∆y ≈ f 0 (u)∆u ≈ f 0 (u)g 0 (x)∆x = f 0 (g(x))g 0 (x)∆x,
so
∆y f 0 (g(x))g 0 (x)
∆x

0 0
≈ = f (g(x))g (x).
∆x ∆x
 
These approximations all becomes more and more accurate as ∆x → 0,
and therefore
dy ∆y
= lim = f 0 (g(x))g 0 (x).
dx ∆x→0 ∆x

2

3
2
Example 4. Find the point(s) on the graph of h(x) = x − 3x − 4
where the tangent line is horizontal.
(*) We need to find the point(s) where h0 (x) = 0, which means that we
first have to differentiate h(x).
(*) Differentiation: use the chain rule on h(x) = f (g(x)),
with f (u) = u3 and g(x) = x2 − 3x − 4:
u
z }| { zdg/dx
}| {
0 2 2
h (x) = 3(x − 3x − 4) (2x − 3)
| {z }
df /du

(*) Recall: A product AB = 0 if and only if A = 0 or B = 0, so

h0 (x) = 0 ⇐⇒ x2 − 3x − 4 = 0 or 2x − 3 = 0

and x2 − 3x − 4 = (x − 4)(x + 1), so h0 (x) = 0 when x = −1, x = 3/2

and x = 4.

3
 12

8 y=(x2-3x-4)3

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

-4

-8

-12

Figure 1: The graph of y = (x2 − 3x − 4)3 .

4
Differentiating without the chain rule...

h(x) = (x2 − 3x − 4)3 = (x2 − 3x − 4)2 (x2 − 3x − 4)

= (x4 − 6x3 + x2 + 24x + 16)(x2 − 3x − 4)
= x6 − 9x5 + 15x4 + 45x3 − 60x2 − 144x − 64

So
h0 (x) = 6x5 − 45x4 + 60x3 + 135x2 − 120x − 144.
Now all we have to do is to solve the equation

6x5 − 45x4 + 60x3 + 135x2 − 120x − 144 = 0...

Observation: Using the chain rule in this example has two advantages:
(*) No messy arithmetic.
(*) The chain rule gives h0 (x) in a (partially) factored form, which
makes solving the equation h0 (x) = 0 is much easier.

5
Example 5. Find the equation of the tangent line to the graph
2
y= √
3
x2 + 4
at the point (2, 1).
We can use the quotient rule combined with the chain rule to find the
derivative dy/dx, or we can just use the chain rule and the observation
that
2 2 −1/3
y= √ 3
= 2(x + 4)
x2 + 4
 
dy 1 4x
=⇒ =2· − (x2 + 4)−4/3 · (2x) = − (x2 + 4)−4/3
dx 3 3

dy  8 −4/3 1
=⇒ =− ·8 =− .
dx x=2 3 6
Now we use the point-slope formula to find the equation of the tangent
line:
 
1 1 4 x
y − 1 = − (x − 2) =⇒ y = 1 − (x − 2) or y = −
6 6 3 6

6
 3

y=4/3-x/
6

1
y=2(x2+4)-1/3

-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

-1

Figure 2: The graphs of y = 2(x2 + 4)−1/3 and the tangent line at (2, 1).

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Observation: f (x)/g(x) = f (x)g(x)−1 , so...

 
d f (x) d −1


= f (x)g(x)
dx g(x) dx

0 −1 d −1


= f (x)g(x) + f (x) g(x)
dx

0 −1 −2 0


= f (x)g(x) + f (x) (−1)g(x) g (x)

f 0 (x) f (x)g 0 (x) f 0 (x)g(x) − f (x)g 0 (x)

= − =
g(x) g(x)2 g(x)2

I.e., the quotient rule follows from combining the product rule and chain
rule.

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Marginal revenue product.
Suppose that a firm’s revenue function is r = f (q) (where q is output),
and their production function is q = g(l) (where l is labor input). In
this case, the firm’s revenue depends on its labor input

r = f (g(l)).

The derivative dr/dl is called the firm’s marginal revenue product.

(*) By the chain rule
dr dr dq
= · ,
dl dq dl
i.e.,

marginal revenue product = (marginal revenue) × (marginal product).

9
Example: The demand equation for a firm’s product is

p = 100 − 0.8q

and the firm’s production function is

√
q = 5 4l − 15,

where labor input l is measured in 40-hour work-weeks.

(*) Find the firm’s marginal revenue product when l = 10.
2 dr
1. r = pq = 100q − 0.8q =⇒ = 100 − 1.6q
dq
dq d
= 5 · 12 (4l − 15)−1/2 · 4 = 10(4l − 15)−1/2
1/2


2. = 5(4l − 15)
dl dl
√
3. q(10) = 5 40 − 15 = 25.
2
   60 z }| {
dr 
 dr 
 dq 
 z }| {
−1/2

4. = × = (100 − 1.6 · 25) × 10 · 25 = 120
dl l=10
 dq q=25 dl l=10
 

10