Derivatives and Composition of Functions We can now find the derivatives of most simple functions (which functions are

missing from our list?), but so far we have no tools for handling things like or variable. Describing Composition These functions are composed of one function inside another. For y1 we can say that and , which allows us to rewrite y1 as , showing the composition explicitly. Can you write y2 as a composition of an outer and an inner function? Experimenting by Graphing Lets look at a graph to see what the derivative of y1 might look like. Heres : , where the input to a function is more than just the

Try to graph the derivative here:

What function do you think youve graphed here?

Experimenting Algebraically Lets try to figure out how finding the derivatives of these functions might work by looking at some functions that can be simplified (unlike the two above). Example 1 To find the derivative we can multiply this out: so Example 2 and In the first example, we got our inner function back into parentheses in the derivative. Can we do that with this one? Example 3 and Can we re-write this derivative, so theres a 9 x in it? <spoiler alert> Dont look below until youve worked on the three examples above. In example 2, we get . In example 3, we get . Can you see any patterns? Lets make a table:

Can you summarize what this table shows? One way to summarize would be to make a new property of derivatives: If , then Can you come up with something? <spoiler alert> Dont turn to the next page until youve tried this.

It seems that, for

Weve come at this both graphically and algebraically. But we cant know it will always work until we prove it. The proof below is not completely sound, but its the easiest to follow that Ive found. Proving It Theorem: Given differentiable functions f and g, and Proof:

, then

Let u = g(x) and k = g(x+h) g(x). Then u+k = k+u = g(x+h). So

. At this last step, if we can replace with , then well be done. Since , though

, it seems we can deduce that this would need more detailed steps to be properly proved. Doing that gives us

. QED. Practicing It Identify the outer and inner functions. I find it helps to read a function with only the outer layer identified. For , read y = sine of something. Try these. Then do the homework in the textbook (section 2.6). 1. 2. 3. 4.