DIFFERENTIAL

CALCULUS
Notation

There are many ways to denote the derivative of a function

𝑦 = 𝑓(𝑥). Besides 𝑓 ’(𝑥), the most common notations are these:
Nice and brief, but does not
𝑦′ “y prime”
name the independent variable.
“𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑥” or “the
𝑑𝑦 Names both variables and uses 𝑑
derivative of 𝑦 with
𝑑𝑥 for derivative.
respect to 𝑥”
“𝑑𝑓 𝑑𝑥” or “the
𝑑𝑓
derivative of 𝑓 with Emphasizes the function’s name.
𝑑𝑥 respect to 𝑥”
“𝑑 𝑑𝑥 of 𝑓 at 𝑥” or Emphasizes the idea that
𝑑
𝑓(𝑥) “the derivative of 𝑓 differentiation is an operation
𝑑𝑥 at 𝑥” performed on 𝑓.
RULES FOR DIFFERENTIATION

Positive Integer Powers, Multiples, Sums, and Differences

The first rule of differentiation is that the derivative of every

constant function is the zero function.

𝑑𝑓 𝑑
= 𝑐 =0
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

Example 1: Derivative of a Constant.

Differentiate the following.
1. 𝑦 = 5 2. 𝑓 𝑥 = −5 3. 𝑦 = 10
𝑑𝑦
𝑦′ = 0 𝑓′ 𝑥 = 0 =0
𝑑𝑥
 The next rule is a first step toward a rule for differentiating
any polynomial.
𝒖

𝑑 𝑛 𝑛−1
𝑑𝑢
𝑢 = 𝑛𝑢
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

The Power Rule says: To differentiate 𝑢𝑛 , multiply by 𝑛 and

subtract 1 from the exponent.

Example 2: Using the Power Rule

Find the derivative of the following:
1. 𝑦 = 𝑥 3 2. 𝑦 = 𝑥 5
here 𝑛 = 3 here 𝑛 = 5

𝑦 ′ = 3𝑥 3−1 = 3𝑥 2 𝑦 ′ = 5 𝑥 5−1 = 5𝑥 4
 2 1
−
3. 𝑦 = 𝑥 3 4. 𝑧 = 𝑥 3

2 2−1 𝑑𝑧 1 −1−1
𝑦′ = 𝑥3 𝑑𝑥
= − 𝑥 3
3
3
2 −1 2 2 𝑑𝑧 1 −4
𝑦′ = 𝑥 3 = 1 = = − 𝑥 3
3 33𝑥 𝑑𝑥 3
3𝑥 3 𝑑𝑧 1 1
= − 43=− 3 4
𝑑𝑥 3𝑥 3 𝑥
 𝑑 𝑑𝑢
𝑐𝑢 = 𝑐
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

Rule 3 says that if a differentiable function is multiplied by a

constant, then its derivative is multiplied by the same constant.
Combined with Rule 2, it enables us to find the derivative of any
monomial quickly;

Example 3: Find the derivative of the following:

1. 𝑦 = 7𝑥 4 2. 𝑦 = 4𝑥
𝑦 = 7(𝑥 4 ) 𝑦 ′ = 4 𝑥 1−1
𝑦 ′ = 7(4𝑥3) 𝑦 ′ = 4𝑥 0
𝑦 ′ = 28𝑥3 𝑦′ = 4
Note: Multiplying the coefficient and the exponent of the function
will give us the coefficient of the derivative.
4 3
3. 𝑦 = 3𝑥 3 5. 𝑦 = − 4
𝑡
We first rewrite the function as
𝑦′ = 3
4
𝑥1 3 𝑦 = −3𝑡 −4
3
1
𝑦 ′ = 4𝑥 = 4 3 𝑥
3
Applying rule 3
𝑦 ′ = (−3)(−4)𝑡 −5
5
4. 𝑧 = 2𝑥 −2 𝑦 ′ = −12𝑡 −5
12
𝑦′ = − 5
𝑡
𝑑𝑧 5
=2 − 𝑥 −7 2
𝑑𝑥 2
7
𝑑𝑧 −2
= −5𝑥
𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑧 5 5
=− =−
𝑑𝑥 𝑥7 2 𝑥7
 To find the derivatives of polynomials, we need to be able to
differentiate sums and differences of monomials. We can accomplish
this by applying the Sum and Difference Rule.

If 𝑢 and 𝑣 are differentiable functions of 𝑥, then their sum and difference are
differentiable at every point where 𝑢 and 𝑣 are differentiable. At such points,
𝑑 𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑣
𝑢±𝑣 = ±
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
Example 4: Differentiate the polynomial
𝑑𝑦 3 2 5
1. Find if 𝑦 = 𝑥 + 6𝑥 − 𝑥 + 16
𝑑𝑥 3

Solution:
By Rule 4 we can differentiate the polynomial term-by-term, applying
Rules 1 through 3 as we go.

𝑑𝑦 𝑑 𝑑 𝑑 5 𝑑
= 𝑥3 + 6𝑥 2 − 𝑥 + 16
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 3 𝑑𝑥

𝑑𝑦 5
= 3𝑥 3−1 +6 2𝑥 2−1 − 𝑥 1−1 + 0
𝑑𝑥 3

𝑑𝑦 5
= 3𝑥 2 + 12𝑥 −
𝑑𝑥 3
The derivative of a product is actually the sum of two products, as
we now explain.

The product of two differentiable functions u and v is differentiable, and

𝑑 𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑢
𝑢𝑣 = 𝑢 +𝑣
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

Example 5: Differentiating a Product

1. Find 𝑓′(𝑥) if 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 + 1 𝑥 3 + 3

Solution: From the Product Rule, we let

𝑢 = 𝑥2 + 1 and 𝑣 = 𝑥3 + 3
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑣
= 2𝑥 = 3𝑥 2
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
 𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑢
𝑢 𝑑𝑥 𝑣 𝑑𝑥
Therefore
𝑓 ′ 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 + 1 3𝑥 2 + 𝑥 3 + 3 (2𝑥)
Expanding the equation
𝑓 ′ 𝑥 = 3𝑥 4 + 3𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 4 + 6𝑥
𝑓 ′ 𝑥 = 5𝑥 4 + 3𝑥 2 + 6𝑥

We could also have done the example above by multiplying out the
original expression and then differentiating the resulting polynomial.
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥2 + 1 𝑥3 + 3
𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑥 5 + 3𝑥 2 + 𝑥 3 + 3
Differentiating
𝑓′ 𝑥 = 5𝑥 4 + 6𝑥 + 3𝑥 2

That alternate strategy will not work, however, on a product like

𝑥2𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑥.
Just as the derivative of the product of two differentiable functions is
not the product of their derivatives, the derivative of a quotient of
two functions is not the quotient of their derivatives. What happens
instead is this:

At a point where 𝑣 ≠ 0, the quotient 𝑦 = 𝑢 𝑣 of two differentiable functions is

differentiable, and
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑣
𝑑 𝑢 𝑣 −𝑢
= 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑣 𝑣2

Example 6: Differentiating a Quotient

𝑥 2 −1
Differentiate 𝑦 =
𝑥 2 +1
Solution:
We apply the Quotient Rule and let:
𝑢 = 𝑥2 − 1 and 𝑣 = 𝑥2 + 1
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑣
= 2𝑥 = 2𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥

𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑣
Therefore 𝑣 𝑑𝑥 𝑢 𝑑𝑥

(𝑥 2 +1) 2𝑥 − (𝑥 2 −1)(2𝑥)
𝑓′ 𝑥 =
𝑥2 + 1 2
𝑣2
2𝑥 3 + 2𝑥 − 2𝑥 3 + 2𝑥
𝑓′ 𝑥 =
𝑥2 + 1 2

4𝑥
𝑓′ 𝑥 = 2 2
𝑥 +1
The rule for differentiating negative powers of 𝑢 is the same as Rule 2
for differentiating positive powers of 𝑢. We can now extend the
Power Rule to negative integer powers by a clever use of the Quotient
Rule.

𝒖
If n is a negative integer and 𝑢 ≠ 0, then

𝑑 𝑛
𝑢 = 𝑛𝑢𝑛−1
𝑑𝑥

EXAMPLE 7: Power Rule for Negative Integer

Differentiate the following:

1. 𝑦 = 𝑥 −5 2. 𝑦 = 7𝑥 −3
𝑦 ′ = −5 𝑥 −5−1 𝑦 ′ = 7 −3 𝑥 −3−1
𝑦′ = −5𝑥 −6 𝑦′ = −21𝑥 −4
The CHAIN RULE

The Chain Rule, which is probably the most widely used

differentiation rule in mathematics. This section describes the rule
and how to use it.
The CHAIN RULE

If 𝑦 is a differentiable function of 𝑢 defined by 𝑦 = 𝑓(𝑢) and 𝑢 is a differentiable

function of 𝑥 defined by 𝑢 = 𝑔(𝑥), then 𝑦 is a differentiable function of 𝑥, and the
derivative of 𝑦 with respect to 𝑥 is given by
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑢
= ∙
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑥
Example 8: Derivative by the Chain Rule
𝑑𝑦
Let 𝑦 = 𝑥 7 − 𝑥 2 42 . Find .
𝑑𝑥

Solution:
The function 𝑦 is the composition of the functions 𝑢 = 𝑥 7 − 𝑥 2 and
𝑦 = 𝑢42 . We compute
𝑑𝑢 6 𝑑𝑦
= 7𝑥 − 2𝑥 and = 42𝑢41 = 42 𝑥 7 − 𝑥 2 41
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑢

and the chain rule gives

𝑑𝑦
= 7𝑥 6 − 2𝑥 42 𝑥 7 − 𝑥 2 41
𝑑𝑥

𝑑𝑦
= 42 𝑥 7 − 𝑥 2 41 7𝑥 6 − 2𝑥
𝑑𝑥
Example 9:
𝑑𝑦 4
Find if 𝑦 = .
𝑑𝑥 4−𝑥 2 2

Solution.
4
Notice that we can write 𝑦 = as 𝑦 = 4 4 − 𝑥 2 −2 .
4−𝑥 2 2
Applying the Chain Rule, we have
𝑢 = 4 − 𝑥2 and 𝑦 = 4𝑢−2
𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑦
= −2𝑥 = 4 −2𝑢−3 = −8𝑢−3
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑢

𝑑𝑦
= (−8𝑢−3 )(−2𝑥)
𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑦
= 16𝑥 4 − 𝑥 2 −3
𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑦 16𝑥
=
𝑑𝑥 4 − 𝑥2 3
Exercises:
Find the derivative of the following by applying the rules of
differentiation.
1. 𝑦 = 32
2. 𝑦 = 2𝑥 3
3. 𝑦 = 𝑥 3 + 3𝑥 2 − 4𝑥 + 9
4. 𝑦 = 5𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 3𝑥 −1 − 2𝑥 −2
2 5
5. 𝑦 = 𝑥 3 + 𝑥 − 4𝑥 + 2
6. 𝑦 = 2𝑥 − 1 𝑥 2 + 2
7. 𝑦 = 𝑥 2 − 1 2𝑥 2 + 1
2
8. 𝑦 = 1−3𝑥 2
𝑥+1
9. 𝑦 = 𝑥 3 +2𝑥−1
𝑥 2 −2𝑥
10. 𝑦 = 3𝑥 3 −5𝑥 2 +4
11. 𝑦 = 3𝑥 2 − 5 3
12. 𝑦 = 𝑥 4 − 𝑥 2