Cambridge Physics PhD Tutor IB DSE IGCSE SAT

UC Math MA, HKU Chemist hinwahk@gmail.com

HKU 1st Hons Engineer 93197825 AP MCAT GCE

u  vu uv 

  
7.4 Quotient Rule: v  v2

Basic Differentiation rules:

Power rule: (x n ) nx n1
Product rule:

(uv) uv uv
u  vu uv 

Quotient rule:   
v  v2

dy dy du
Chain rule:  f (g(x))  f (g(x))  g (x) or in other words  
dx du dx


Example  1

x
y x 2
x 2 y  1  1 2(x  2)1
x 2 x 2
(x  2)x  (x  2)x
y  or y  0  2(1)(x  2)2
(x  2)2
 2(x  2)2
(x  2)1 (1)x 2
 
(x  2) 2
(x  2)2


Example 2
x2 1
y
x 2 1 x2 1 2
y  1 2  1 2(x 2 1)1
(x 2 1)(x 2  1) (x 2 1)(x 2  1) x 1
2
x 1
y 
(x 2 1) 2 y  0  2(1)(x 2 1)2 (x 2 1) chain rule
or
(x 2 1)2x  2x(x 2  1)  2(x 2 1)2 2x

(x 2 1) 2 4 x
 2
4 x (x 1) 2
 2
(x 1) 2


 Cambridge Physics PhD Tutor IB DSE IGCSE SAT
UC Math MA, HKU Chemist hinwahk@gmail.com
HKU 1st Hons Engineer 93197825 AP MCAT GCE

Example 3

If the function to be differentiated is a quotient with a constant for its numerator, think of using the Chain
Rule rather than using the Quotient Rule.

, then

Example 4
x2  7
Find the derivative of y  with respect to x.
2x  4
Solution:
x2  7 x2  7
y 
2 x  4 2( x  2)
dy 1 d  x 2  7 
  
dx 2 dx  x  2 
d d
( x  2) ( x 2  7)  ( x 2  7) ( x  2)
1 dx dx

2 ( x  2) 2
1 ( x  2)(2 x)  ( x 2  7)(1)

2 ( x  2) 2
1 2x2  4x  x2  7

2 ( x  2) 2
x2  4x  7

2( x  2) 2
 Cambridge Physics PhD Tutor IB DSE IGCSE SAT
UC Math MA, HKU Chemist hinwahk@gmail.com
HKU 1st Hons Engineer 93197825 AP MCAT GCE

Your Turn!
QI. Find the derivative of each function defined as follows; there is no need to simplify
your answers.
3x  2
(a) h( x ) 
x2 1
sin x
(b) f ( x) 
x
sec x
(c) y
1  tan x
Q2 Differentiate the following functions
(hint: in questions 7 & 8 you need to use product as well as quotient formulas)
sin x
x 2.   sin 
1. 1  cos x 3.
1 x 1  cos 
1
r 3  4r 5. x
4. s2  4 6.
r  1r  2  sin
x 1
sin x cos x 8.  sin y 
7. 1  sin 9. tan y   
1  cos x  cos y 

( x 2  1)(3)  (3x  2)(2 x) x(cos x)  (sin x)(1)

A1 (a) h( x)  (b) f ( x) 
( x 2  1) 2 x2
dy (1  tan x)(sec x tan x)  sec x(sec 2 x)
(c) 
dx (1  tan x) 2
A2
1 1   sin  r 4  2r 3  10r 2  8
1. 2. 3. 4.
1  x 2 1  cos x 1  cos  2 r  12 r  22
 2s 1 x  1  2 cos 2 x  cos 3 x cos 2 x  cos x  1
5. 
s 
6. 7.
2 x x  12 1  cos x 2
2
2
4 1  cos x
 cos   sin  sin 2  9.
1
 sec 2 y
8.
1  sin 2 cos y2