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SOLUTIONS TO DIFFFERENTIATION OF FUNCTIONS USING THE CHAIN RULE

SOLUTION 1 : Differentiate

( The outer layer is ``the square'' and the inner layer is (3x+1) . Differentiate ``the square'' first, leaving (3x+1) unchanged. Then differentiate (3x+1). ) Thus,

= 2 (3x+1) (3) = 6 (3x+1) . Click HERE to return to the list of problems.

SOLUTION 2 : Differentiate

. . unchanged. Then

( The outer layer is ``the square root'' and the inner layer is Differentiate ``the square root'' first, leaving differentiate . ) Thus,

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SOLUTION 3 : Differentiate

. . unchanged. Then

( The outer layer is ``the 30th power'' and the inner layer is Differentiate ``the 30th power'' first, leaving differentiate . ) Thus,

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SOLUTION 4 : Differentiate

. .

( The outer layer is ``the one-third power'' and the inner layer is Differentiate ``the one-third power'' first, leaving differentiate . ) Thus,

unchanged. Then

(At this point, we will continue to simplify the expression, leaving the final answer with no negative exponents.)

. Click HERE to return to the list of problems.

SOLUTION 5 : Differentiate

( First, begin by simplifying the expression before we differentiate it. ) Thus,

( The outer layer is ``the negative four-fifths power'' and the inner layer is . Differentiate ``the negative four-fifths power'' first, leaving Then differentiate .) unchanged.

(At this point, we will continue to simplify the expression, leaving the final answer with no negative exponents.)

. Click HERE to return to the list of problems.

SOLUTION 6 : Differentiate

( The outer layer is ``the sine function'' and the inner layer is (5x) . Differentiate ``the sine function'' first, leaving (5x) unchanged. Then differentiate (5x) . ) Thus,

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SOLUTION 7 : Differentiate

. . . ) Thus,

( The outer layer is ``the exponential function'' and the inner layer is Recall that leaving . Differentiate ``the exponential function'' first, unchanged. Then differentiate

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SOLUTION 8 : Differentiate

. . Recall

( The outer layer is ``2 raised to a power'' and the inner layer is

that . Differentiate ``2 raised to a power'' first, leaving unchanged. Then differentiate . ) Thus,

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SOLUTION 9 : Differentiate

( Since 3 is a MULTIPLIED CONSTANT, we will first use the rule , where c is a constant . Hence, the constant 3 just ``tags along'' during the differentiation process. It is NOT necessary to use the product rule. ) Thus,

( Now the outer layer is ``the tangent function'' and the inner layer is Differentiate ``the tangent function'' first, leaving differentiate .) unchanged. Then

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SOLUTION 10 : Differentiate

( The outer layer is ``the natural logarithm (base e) function'' and the inner layer is ( 17-x ) . Recall that . Differentiate ``the natural logarithm function'' first, leaving ( 17-x ) unchanged. Then differentiate ( 17-x ). ) Thus,

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SOLUTION 11 : Differentiate

( The outer layer is ``the common logarithm (base 10) function'' and the inner layer is . Recall that . Differentiate ``the common logarithm unchanged. Then differentiate .

(base 10) function'' first, leaving ) Thus,

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Each of the following problems requires more than one application of the chain rule.

SOLUTION 12 : Differentiate

( Recall that , which makes ``the square'' the outer layer, NOT ``the cosine function''. In fact, this problem has three layers. The first layer is ``the square'', the second layer is ``the cosine function'', and the third layer is ``the square'' first, leaving ``the cosine function'' and differentiate ``the cosine function'', leaving of . ) Thus, . Differentiate

unchanged. Then

unchanged. Finish with the derivative

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SOLUTION 13 : Differentiate

( Since

is a MULTIPLIED CONSTANT, we will first use the

rule , where c is a constant. Hence, the constant just ``tags along'' during the differentiation process. It is NOT necessary to use the product rule. ) Thus,

( Recall that , which makes ``the negative four power'' the outer layer, NOT ``the secant function''. In fact, this problem has three layers. The first layer is ``the negative four power'', the second layer is ``the secant function'', and the third layer is function'' and leaving . Differentiate ``the negative four power'' first, leaving ``the secant unchanged. Then differentiate ``the secant function'', unchanged. Finish with the derivative of .)

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SOLUTION 14 : Differentiate

( There are four layers in this problem. The first layer is ``the natural logarithm (base e) function'', the second layer is ``the fifth power'', the third layer is ``the cosine function'', and the fourth layer is . Differentiate them in that order. ) Thus,

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SOLUTION 15 : Differentiate

( There are four layers in this problem. The first layer is ``the square root function'', the second layer is ``the sine function'', the third layer is `` 7x plus the natural logarithm (base e) function'', and the fourth layer is (5x) . Differentiate them in that order. ) Thus,

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SOLUTION 16 : Differentiate

( Since 10 is a MULTIPLIED CONSTANT, we will first use the rule , where c is a constant. Hence, the constant 10 just ``tags along'' during the differentiation process. It is NOT necessary to use the product rule. ) Thus,

( Now there are four layers in this problem. The first layer is ``the fifth power'', the second layer is ``1 plus the third power '', the third layer is ``2 minus the ninth power'', and the fourth layer is . Differentiate them in that order. )

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SOLUTION 17 : Differentiate

( Since 4 is a MULTIPLIED CONSTANT, we will first use the rule , where c is a constant. Hence, the constant 4 just ``tags along'' during the differentiation process. It is NOT necessary to use the product rule. ) Thus,

( There are four layers in this problem. The first layer is ``the natural logarithm (base e) function'', the second layer is ``the natural logarithm (base e) function'', the third layer is ``the natural logarithm (base e) function'', and the fourth layer is Differentiate them in that order. ) .

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SOLUTION 18 : Differentiate

( There are four layers in this problem. The first layer is ``the third power'', the second layer is ``the tangent function'', the third layer is ``the square root function'', the fourth layer is ``the cotangent function'', and the fifth layer is (7x) . Differentiate them in that order. ) Thus,

. The following three problems require a more formal use of the chain rule. Click HERE to return to the list of problems.

SOLUTION 19 : Assume that h(x) = f( g(x) ) , where both f and g are differentiable functions. If g(-1)=2, g'(-1)=3, and f'(2)=-4 , what is the value of h'(-1) ? Recall that the chain rule states that . Thus,

so that . Click HERE to return to the list of problems.

SOLUTION 20 : Assume that If and of h at x=0 .

, where f is a differentiable function.

, determine an equation of the line tangent to the graph

The outer layer of this function is ``the third power'' and the inner layer is f(x) . The chain rule gives us that the derivative of h is . Thus, the slope of the line tangent to the graph of h at x=0 is .

This line passes through the point point-slope form of a line, an equation of this tangent line is

. Using the

or

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SOLUTION 21 : Determine a differentiable function y = f(x) which has the properties and .

Begin with

and assume that f(x) is not identically zero. Then

iff Note that

and , where C is any constant . Now think about ``reversing'' the process of differentiation. This is called finding an antiderivative. Thus,

iff

iff

Since

, we have

so that

and C = 2 . Thus,

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