Chapter 3

Constant Rule
3.1 Tangent Lines and Derivative at a point Power Rule
3.2 Derivative as a function Constant Multiple Rule
3.3 Differentiation rules Sum/Difference Rule
3.5 Derivative of trig functions and logarithms Derivatives of Exponential functions
3.6 Chain rule Product Rule
Quotient Rule

Copyright © Na Yu, Ryerson University;

Copyright of plots © 2021, 2020, 2016, 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Differentiation Rules --- Methods to Find Derivatives

Constant Rule (3.3)

Power Rule (3.3)
Constant Multiple Rule (3.3)
Sum/Difference Rule (3.3)
Product Rule (3.3)
Quotient Rule (3.3)
Derivatives of Exponential functions (3.3)
Derivative of Logarithmic functions (3.8)
Derivative of Inverse functions (3.8)
Derivatives of Trig functions (3.5)
Chain Rule (3.6)
Implicit Differentiation (MTH231, 3.7)

Copyright © Na Yu, Ryerson University

 Constant rule 𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥 + ℎ − 𝑓𝑓(𝑥𝑥)
Proof: Using 𝑓𝑓 ′ 𝑥𝑥 = lim
ℎ→0 ℎ
d
(c) = 0 𝑑𝑑 𝑐𝑐 − 𝑐𝑐
dx (𝑐𝑐) = lim
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 ℎ→0 ℎ
𝑑𝑑
The derivative of a constant is zero. 𝑐𝑐 = 0
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
 Slope of tangent line

Constant rule Ex1: (1) 𝑦𝑦 = 3 → 𝑦𝑦 ′ =

4

d
(c) = 0
3
𝑦𝑦 = 3
2

dx 1

-2 -1 0 1 2

The derivative of a constant is zero.

-1

-2

𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
(2) 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑒𝑒 → 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
=

𝑑𝑑 𝜋𝜋2
(3) =
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
 𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥 + ℎ − 𝑓𝑓(𝑥𝑥)
Power rule Proof: Using 𝑓𝑓 ′ 𝑥𝑥 = lim
ℎ→0 ℎ
d n ( x + h) n − x n
d n x = lim
dx
( x ) = nx n −1
dx h→0 h
d n x n + nx n−1h + ... + h n − x n
where n is any non-zero real number x = lim
dx h→0 h
(integer, fractions, positive, negative)
d n nx n−1h + ... + h n
x = lim
dx h→0 h
d n
x = lim nx n−1
dx h→0
 Ex2: (1) 𝑦𝑦 = 𝑥𝑥 → 𝑦𝑦 ′ =

Power rule (2)

𝑑𝑑
𝑥𝑥 4 =
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

d n 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

dx
( x ) = nx n −1 (3) 𝑢𝑢 = 𝑥𝑥 → 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 =

𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
(4) 𝑓𝑓(𝑡𝑡) = 𝑡𝑡 −2 → 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
=
where n is any non-zero real number
(integer, fractions, decimals, positive, negative) 𝑑𝑑𝐻𝐻
1
(5) 𝐻𝐻(𝑠𝑠) =
𝑠𝑠
→ 𝑑𝑑𝑠𝑠
=

𝑑𝑑
(6) 𝑥𝑥 𝑒𝑒 =
𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑥𝑥 = 1
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

𝑚𝑚 𝑑𝑑
𝑛𝑛
𝑥𝑥 𝑚𝑚 = 𝑥𝑥 𝑛𝑛 (7) 𝑥𝑥 5 =
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
 4
Ex3: (1) 𝑓𝑓(𝑥𝑥) = 3𝑥𝑥
constant multiple rule:
𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑 (2) 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 = −
13
𝑥𝑥
[𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑥𝑥 ] = 𝑐𝑐 𝑓𝑓(𝑥𝑥) 2
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

′ ′ 1
𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = 𝑐𝑐 𝑓𝑓 (3) 𝑓𝑓(𝑡𝑡) = 𝑡𝑡 −2
5

where c is constant 1
(4) 𝐻𝐻(𝑠𝑠) =
−3𝑠𝑠

(5) ℎ 𝑥𝑥 = 2𝑥𝑥
 4
Ex4: (1) 𝑓𝑓 𝑡𝑡 = 4𝑡𝑡 − 5𝑡𝑡
Sum & Difference rules 𝑑𝑑
𝑓𝑓(𝑡𝑡) =
→ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑 2
𝑓𝑓(𝑡𝑡) =
𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥 + 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 = + 𝑑𝑑𝑡𝑡 2
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
(2) 𝑢𝑢 = 3
𝑥𝑥 + 2 𝑥𝑥 − 5

𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑𝑢𝑢

=
𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥 − 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 = − → 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑑𝑑 2 𝑢𝑢
=
𝑑𝑑𝑥𝑥 2
𝑓𝑓 ± 𝑔𝑔 ′ = 𝑓𝑓 ′ ± 𝑔𝑔𝑔
𝑥𝑥 𝑥𝑥−2𝑥𝑥+4
(3) 𝑔𝑔(𝑥𝑥) =
𝑥𝑥
Simplify the
function first!
 Ex5: (1) 𝑦𝑦 = −3(2𝑥𝑥 )
Derivative of Exp function

𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥
𝑒𝑒 = 𝑒𝑒 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (2)
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑥𝑥 2 − 5𝑒𝑒 𝑥𝑥 =

𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥
𝑎𝑎 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑑𝑑
(3) 𝑥𝑥 𝑒𝑒 + 𝑒𝑒 𝑥𝑥 =
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 ′ = 𝑓𝑓 ′ 𝑔𝑔 + 𝑓𝑓 𝑔𝑔𝑔
Product rule:
𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥
𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 = 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 + 𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

Proof (using the limit definition of derivative) is available in the textbook.

𝑑𝑑 2 𝑡𝑡
Ex6: [𝑡𝑡 𝑒𝑒 ]
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 ′ = 𝑓𝑓 ′ 𝑔𝑔 + 𝑓𝑓 𝑔𝑔𝑔
Product rule:
𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥
𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 = 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 + 𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑑𝑑 1
Ex7: [(𝑥𝑥 2 + 3)( − 1)]
𝑑𝑑𝑥𝑥 𝑥𝑥
 𝑓𝑓 ′ 𝑔𝑔 − 𝑓𝑓 𝑔𝑔𝑔
𝑓𝑓/𝑔𝑔 ′ =
Quotient rule: 𝑔𝑔2

𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥
𝑑𝑑 𝑓𝑓(𝑥𝑥) 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 − 𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥
= 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑔𝑔(𝑥𝑥) 𝑔𝑔2 (𝑥𝑥)
d 2 x3 + 5 x
Ex8:
dx x 2 + 3
 𝑓𝑓 ′ 𝑔𝑔 − 𝑓𝑓 𝑔𝑔𝑔
𝑓𝑓/𝑔𝑔 ′ =
Quotient rule: 𝑔𝑔2

𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥
𝑑𝑑 𝑓𝑓(𝑥𝑥) 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 − 𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥
= 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑔𝑔(𝑥𝑥) 𝑔𝑔2 (𝑥𝑥)
𝑑𝑑 𝑒𝑒 𝑡𝑡
Ex9: ( )
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 1+ 𝑡𝑡
Summary:
d
constant rule: dx ( c ) = 0

d n
power rule:
dx
( x ) = nx n −1

𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥
derivatives of exp functions: 𝑒𝑒 = 𝑒𝑒 𝑥𝑥 𝑎𝑎 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑥𝑥 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑
constant multiple rule: [𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝑥𝑥 ] = 𝑐𝑐 𝑓𝑓(𝑥𝑥)
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥
sum & difference rules: 𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥 ± 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 = ±
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥
product rule: 𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 = 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 + 𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑥𝑥
𝑑𝑑 𝑓𝑓(𝑥𝑥) 𝑔𝑔 𝑥𝑥 − 𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥
quotient rule: = 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 2
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑔𝑔(𝑥𝑥) 𝑔𝑔 (𝑥𝑥)
More difficult examples:

Ex11
(exercise
questions
In textbook)
Ex12: