FINDING THE

DERIVATIVE OF A
FUNCTION
Using The Power Rule
and The Constant Rule
OBJECTIVES
THE POWER
RULE
THE POWER RULE
Is used to differentiate functions of the form
𝐟 𝐱 = 𝐱𝐧.

It’s a quick tool for finding the derivative of a

function and it’s one of the most commonly
used techniques in calculus.
 Example #1
Formula 𝐧
𝐝
𝐝 𝐧 𝟐𝐱 𝟑
𝐱 = 𝐧𝐱 𝐧−𝟏 𝐝𝐱
𝐝𝐱
𝐝
𝟐𝐱 𝟑 = (𝟑)𝟐𝐱 𝟑−𝟏
𝐝𝐱
= 𝟔𝐱 𝟐
 Example #2
𝐧
Formula 𝐝
𝟑𝐱 𝟓
𝐝 𝐧 𝐝𝐱
𝐱 = 𝐧𝐱 𝐧−𝟏
𝐝𝐱 𝐝
𝟑𝐱 𝟓 = (𝟓)𝟑𝐱 𝟓−𝟏
𝐝𝐱
= 𝟏𝟓𝐱 𝟒
 Example #3
Formula 𝐧
𝐝
𝐝 𝐧 𝟒𝐱 𝟒𝐱 𝟏
𝐱 = 𝐧𝐱 𝐧−𝟏 𝐝𝐱
𝐝𝐱
𝐝
𝟒𝐱 = (𝟏)𝟒𝐱 𝟏−𝟏
𝐝𝐱
= 𝟒𝐱 𝟎 = 𝟒
THE
CONSTANT
RULE
THE CONSTANT RULE
This is the rule used for differentiating constant functions.

It states that the derivative of a constant function is zero.

A constant function is a function that has the same output

value no matter what your input value is. It follows the
form y = b.
Ex. y=9 y = 125
 Example #1
Formula
𝐂
𝐝
𝑪 =𝟎 𝐝
𝐝𝐱 𝟖 =𝟎
𝐝𝐱
 Example #2
Formula
𝐂
𝐝 𝐝
𝑪 =𝟎 𝟏𝟐𝟓−𝟏𝟐 = 𝟎
𝐝𝐱 𝐝𝐱
 Example #3
Formula
𝐂
𝐝 𝐝 𝝅
𝑪 =𝟎
𝐝𝐱 𝒆 =𝟎
𝐝𝐱
LET’S
TRY
 ANOTHER EXAMPLE ON THE POWER AND
CONSTANT RULE

𝐝
(𝟑𝐱 + 𝟐)𝟐 𝐝
𝐝𝐱 (𝟗𝐱 𝟐 + 𝟏𝟐𝐱 + 𝟒)
𝐝𝐱
* expand the binomial
𝐝 𝟐
𝐝 𝐝
(𝟑𝐱 + 𝟐)𝟐 (𝟗𝐱 𝟐 + 𝟏𝟐𝐱 + 𝟒) 𝟗𝐱 + 𝟏𝟐𝐱 + (𝟒)
𝐝𝐱 𝐝𝐱 𝐝𝐱
𝐝 = 𝟏𝟖𝐱 + 𝟏𝟐 + 𝟎
(𝟗𝐱 𝟐 + 𝟏𝟐𝐱 + 𝟒)
𝐝𝐱 = 𝟏𝟖𝐱 + 𝟏𝟐
THANK
YOU!