The chain rule is used to find the derivative of a composite function.

It is formally stated as: (f*g)(x) =

f(g(x)) * g(x). Basically, this fancy rule is just saying that you need to take the derivative of the outer
function and multiply it by the derivative of the inner function. (An easy way to remember this is
d(outer) d(inner)). Here is an example problem:
If f(x) = sin(4x + 2) find f(x).
First, lets establish which equation is the outer and which is the inner. In this case: sin is the outer
function and 4x + 2 is the inner.
Now lets apply the chain rule. Take the derivative of the outer and inner functions:
Outer derivative

= cos(4x + 2)*

*Note: We never alter whatever is inside the outer function (i.e. 4x + 2).
Inner derivative

=4

And now multiply them together:

4 cos(4x + 2)
And that is the derivative of your original function.
But what if you have multiple functions inside of a function? Such as:
f(x) = (sec(x 2 + x))2
Well, thats the beauty of the chain rule. It works like a chain. (Mind = blown). We can apply the method
we used in the previous problem to solve this one. Only this time, well have three components to
multiply together instead of two.
So, lets establish the order of our equations (from the outermost to the innermost).
( )2 , sec( ) , x 2 + x
Now we take the derivative of each:
Outer derivative

= 2 (sec(x 2 ))

Middle derivative

= sec(x 2 + x)tan(x 2 + x)
Inner derivative

= 2x + 1

Now we multiply them all together and get: (4x + 2)sec 2 (x 2 + x)tan(x 2 + x)
And thats your derivative of the original function. Hooray!

Now things get tricky. Implicit differentiation. Sounds scary, right? WRONG. Its terrifying. I mean, just
looking up when to use implicit differentiation gave me a headache. The simplest way to define implicit
differentiation (and make it less menacing) is as an extension of the chain rule, applied to implicit
functions. Hold up, whats an implicit function? Its basically a function where y is actively involved. (i.e.
not just sitting around on the other side of the =). The best example of this is your basic circle:
2 + 2 = 1
See? Our lovely y variable isnt being lazy in this equation. Now of course, we could isolate y and set it
equal to1 , but that makes more work for us. Implicit differentiation is much faster.
Before we begin, lets ponder a moment on what the derivative of y is. Never thought about it, huh? Well,
lets use an example to explain.
y=x+1
So, we know that the derivative of this function is this:

=1

Woah, woah, woah. Whered that weird fraction come from? Oh right its the symbol for the derivative of
the functionbut guess what is also is? Thats right, the derivative of y!
Okay, youll be much more excited once you learn its application.
2 + 2 = 1
Lets get to work.

2y + 2x = 0
So, first we took the derivative of 2 . We have to use the chain rule in this case, because we know that y is
a function by itself (i.e. when we isolated it earlier). The outer function is ( )2, and the inner is y. So we get

2y . Theres Step One!

Now we take the derivative of 2 , and with the application of the power rule, its simple: 2x. And of
course, the derivative of 1 is 0 because the derivative of any constant is 0, but I digress.

Then we isolate , and presto! We have our derivative:

=-

x
y

As for second derivatives with implicit differentiation, things get a bit messier. Taking the second
derivative of functions is fairly simple. You just take the derivative of the derivative. Like so:
y = 2
y = 2x
y = 2
Easy, right? Right! Until you get to implicit differentiation

To take the second derivative of an implicit function you need to basically apply the same rules as before,
2

only now, when youre left with a 2 (the notation for a second derivative) and a , you just need to plug

in the first derivative for and simplify! Or not simplifybecause that stuff is crazy.
You remember the first derivative of our circle, right? Good. Because I didnt want to do it again.

=-

Now well take the second derivative.

2
2

= Holy crap why did I pick an example problem with a quotient rule?? Ugh. *
*

()

(1)

So now we just plug in our original derivative for and then cry a little because of how scary it looks.

()

And I am not going to simplify that becausebecause I am lazy. Thats why.

Now we get a big fancy list of all of the inverse trig function derivatives! Yay!

sin1 = 12

cos 1 = - 12

tan1 =

1
1+2
1

cot 1 = - 1+2
1

sec 1 = ||2

csc 1 = - ||2

Where u represents the function/value inside of the trig function.

Here are the rules for exponential and logarithmic functions:

( ) =

( ) = * ln

(ln ) =

(log ) = ln

Now, this may seem unrelated, but lets list some quick log rules:
log() = log + log

log() = log - log

log( ) = b * log
These are especially helpful when it comes to logarithmic differentiation, which is a technique used to
find the derivative of
() ()
This is probably one of the simplest differentiations. Allow me to demonstrate.
=
ln = ln
Using some of our nifty log rules, we can simplify this a bit.
ln = ln
Now we take the derivative of each side:
(remember, we learned this derivative earlier)

Which simplifies to

= (1 + ln )

And then we plug in the original function for y

= (1 + ln )

And thats our answer!

+ ln