Differentiation

Technique of
Differentiation 1

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The Power Rule
Differentiating a Polynomial Function
Revision Note
y = ax n
dy
= anx n−1
dx

Differentiating Fractional Function

1
y=
xn
Rewrite
Differentiating a constant y = x−n
y=a a is a constant dy −n
−nx − n−1 =
=
dx x n+1
dy
=0
dx
Differentiating Square Root Function
Differentiating a Variable with Index n y=a x
y=x n
Rewrite
1
dy
= nx n−1 y = ax 2
dx
dy 1 1 −1
= a x 2
dx 2
Differentiating a Linear Function dy 1 − 21
= ax
y = ax dx 2
dy dy a
= ax= 1−1
=
ax 0
a =
dx dx 2 x

Exercise 1
Differentiate
3
d) y = x
a) y = 3x 4 2

1
b) y = −
2

3
e) y=
2x 4
3
c) y= x
2
 Differentiation
7 2 3
h) y= πx
2
3
f) y= πx
2

g) y = π4

Differentiate the Sums and Differences of Algebraic Terms

dy 3 1
Note [Ans: = 12x 2 − 3 + 2 ]
dx x x
y= u ± v u and v are functions in x Example 2 (Differentiation of Sums and
dy du dv Differences of Algebraic Terms)
= ± Differentiate the expression 2x(4x2 + 2 x -5)
dx dx dx
with respect to x

Important Note
u
y=
y = uv v
dy du dv du
≠ × dy dx
dx dx dx ≠
dx dv
dx

Example
dy
y = 4x 3 − 3x 2 + 4x − 1 [Ans: = 24x 2 + 8x − 10 ]
dx
dy
= 43x 3−1 − 32x 2−1 + 4 Example 3 (Differentiation of Sums and
dx Differences of Algebraic Terms)
dy x 3 +2x 2 +1 dy
= 12x 2 − 6x + 4 Given that y = , find .
dx 3x dx

Example 1 (Differentiation of Sums and

Differences of Algebraic Terms)
3 1 dy
Given that y= 4x 3 + 2 − + 5 , find .
2x x dx

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 Differentiation
dy 2 2 1 dy
[Ans: = x+ − 2 ] [Ans:
= 84(3x − 1)6 ]
dx 3 3 3x dx
−5(3x 2 − 7x + 1)5 ,
(b) y =
Differentiate composite function using
chain rule

y = un u and v are functions in x

dy dy du
= ×
dx du dx dy
[Ans: =
−25(6x − 7)(3x 2 − 7x + 1)4 ]
dx
1
Example (c) y = ,
3x − 7
DIfferentiate=
y (x 2 − 1)8

y u8 Let u = x 2 − 1
dy du
=
8u7
2x
du dx

dy dy du dy −3
= × [Ans: = ]
dx du dx dx (3x − 7)2
dy
= 8u7 × 2x
(d) y= 2x 2 − 5x + 1 ,
dx
dy
= 16xu7
dx
dy
= 16x( x 2 − 1)7
dx

Alternative Method - Easy Version

=
y (x 2 − 1)8
d 2
y=
8(x 2 − 1)7 (x − 1)
dx
=y 8(x 2 − 1)7 (2x) dy 4x + 5
[Ans: = ]
=y 16(x − 1)2 7 dx 2 2x 2 + 5x + 1
3
(e) y =
Example 4 (Differentiating composite function 5x + 1
using Chain Rule)
Differentiate the following with respect to x:
(a)
= y 4(3x − 1)7 ,

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 Differentiation
dy −15
[Ans: = ]
dx 2 (5x + 3)3

Example 5 [Ans: h = 4; k = 192]

4 dy Example 7 (Chain Rule)
If y = 3t − 5 + , find the value of where d −6
7t − 1 dx Find ( )
t = 1. dx 1 − 5x 7

dy 2
=2 ]
[Ans:
dx 9 −210x 6
[Ans: ]
Example 6 (Find the unknowns using comparison (1 − 5x 7 )2
method) Example 8 (Chain Rule)
Given that the graph of function 3 dy
k Given that y = u5 , where u=4x+1. Find
= hx 3 +
f(x) has a gradient function 5 dx
x2 in terms of x.
258
= 12x 2 − 3 such that h and k are
f '(x)
x
constants. Find the values of h and k.
[Clone SPM 1999

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Differentiation
dy
= 12(4x + 1)4 ]
[Ans:
dx

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