3.

4 The Chain Rule

THEOREM (The Chain Rule). If g is differentiable at the point x and f is differentiable

at the point gx, then the composition f ∘ g is differentiable at the point x.
Moreover, if y = fgx and u = gx, then y = fu and

dy dy du
= ⋅
dx du dx

dy
Also, note that = d y = d fu = f ′ u = f ′ gx
du du du
and du = d u = d gx = g ′ x.
dx dx dx
So, the derivative of fgx can also be expressed as d fgx = f ′ gx ⋅ g ′ x.
dx

dy
Example 1 Find if y = 8x 2 − 2x + 3 4 .
dx

The Generalized Derivative Formula

Since y is a function of u y = fu, it is often helpful to abbreviate the Chain Rule as follows:

d fu = f ′ u du
dx dx

dy dy
Example 2 Find if y = 3x 2 + 4x + 5 3 . Example 3 Find if y = d x 5 + 10x .
dx dx dx

1
Example 4 Find d secx 3  Example 5 Find d sec 3 x
dx dx

Example 6 Find d sin x 2 + 5x + 3 Example 7 Find d sin 3 x 2 + 5x + 3

3
dx dx

Example 8 Find f ′ x if fx = x 2 1 − x 2 Example 9 Find f ′ x if fx = x

2
3
x +4

2
The Derivative of the Natural Logarithm Function

Let be a differentiable function of x.

1. d ln x = 1 , x > 0 2. d ln u = 1 du = u ′ , u > 0

dx x dx u dx u

Remember the number e from Algebra. It is called the natural base e, and is often taken to be
the limit lim 1 + 1 n or lim 1 + 1 v , if you’re not so crazy about the letter n.
n→∞ n v→∞ v
We will use this limit to find d log b x where log b x is the logarithm of x to an arbitrary base b.
dx
d log x = lim log b x + h − log b x
dx b h→0 h
log b x h
x +
= lim
h→0 h
= lim log b x +x h
1
h→0 h

= lim 1 log b 1 + hx
h→0 h

= lim v log 1 + 1 (if we let v = hx )

v→∞ x b v
= lim 1 v log 1 + 1
v→∞ x 1 b v
v
1
= x lim log b 1 + v 1
v→∞

= 1x log b lim 1 + 1 v (because log b x is continuous)

v→∞ v
= 1x log b e (because lim 1 + 1 v = e)
v→∞ v
= x 1 ln e (by the Change-of-Base Formula)
ln b
= 1
x ln b

The following list is a summary of the derivative formulas for logarithmic functions.

a. d log x = 1 b. d ln x = 1x
dx b x ln b dx

c. d log u = 1 du d. d ln u = 1u du
dx b u ln b dx dx dx

Example 10 Find each derivative.

a. d log x b. d log x 4 − 4x 2 + 5 c. d lnsin x

dx 5 dx 3 dx

3
 dy x5 3 x2 + 5
Example 11 Find if y = ln .
dx tan 3 x

Example 12 Find each derivative.

a. Find d ln|x|. b. Find d ln|cos x|

dx dx