Understanding Derivatives of Sums, Quotients, and Products

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Math › Understanding Derivatives of Sums, Quotients, and Products

Questions 1 - 5
1

What is the first derivative of ?

Explanation

Since we're adding terms, we take the derivative of each part separately. For , we can use the power rule, which states that we multiply the variable by the current exponent and then lower the exponent by one. For sine, we use our trigonometric derivative rules.

Remember, .

2

What is the second derivative of ?

Explanation

To find the second derivative, we need to start by finding the first one.

Since we're adding terms, we take the derivative of each part separately. For , we can use the power rule, which states that we multiply the variable by the current exponent and then lower the exponent by one. For sine, we use our trigonometric derivative rules.

Remember, .

Now we repeat the process, but using as our equation.

3

Find the derivative of the following function:

Explanation

Since this function is a polynomial, we take the derivative of each term separately.

From the power rule, the derivative of

is simply

We can rewrite as

and using the power rule again, we get a derivative of

or

So the answer is

4

What is

Explanation

The chain rule is "first times the derivative of the second plus second times derivative of the first".

In this case, that means .

5

Which of the following best represents ?

Explanation

The question is just asking for the Quotient Rule formula.

Recall the Quotient Rule is the bottom function times the derivative of the top minus the top function times the derivative of the bottom all divided by the bottom function squared.

Given,

the bottom function is and the top function is . This makes the bottom derivative and the top derivative .

Substituting these into the Quotient Rule formula resulting in the following.

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