Devin's Blog

Derivative is a slope of a tangent line, slope of a curve at a point, or a rate of change. If an equations states something about a rate, a velocity, a speed, instantaneous velocity, or an acceleration then you must find a derivative. When using the constant rule, you must take the derivative of the equation and then set the derivative equal to zero. When using the power rule, every time you take a derivative, you must lose a power. For composite functions you must use the chain rule. When using the chain rule you work from outside to the inside. You must take the derivative of the outside and then recopy the inside of the equation and continue with the problem. You can also use the chain rule inside of using a product or quotient rule.

Ex. y’ 6x^4

4(6)x^4-1

=24x^3

Ex. 5x^2+11x

2(5)x^2-1+1(11)x^1-1

=10x+11

Ex. x^5+3x

5(1)x^5-1+1(3)x^1-1

=5x^4+3

I could use a lil help on how to do a product and chain rule though.