Edexcel A level Mathematics Differentiation

Section 2: The chain rule

Notes and Examples
This chapter extends methods for differentiating functions.

These notes contain subsections on

 The chain rule
 Rates of change
 Inverse functions

The chain rule

Suppose you want to differentiate the function y  (2 x  5)3 . You could expand
the brackets:
y  (2 x  5)3
 (2 x)3  3(2 x) 2 .5  3(2 x).52  53
 8 x 3  60 x 2  150 x  125

Then you could differentiate term by term:

dy
 (8  3x 2 )  (60  2 x)  150
dx
 24 x 2  120 x  150

This result can be factorised:

dy
 24 x 2  120 x  150
dx
 6(4 x 2  20 x  25)
 6(2 x  5) 2

This suggests that there is perhaps a more efficient method.

The expression for the derivative can be written as

dy
y  (2 x  5)3  = 2 × 3(2x + 5)2
dx
The derivative of
3 2
(…) is 3(…)

The derivative of
(2x + 5) is 2

To make the method is clearer, let u = 2x + 5. Then y = u3

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dy du
Now  3u 2 and 2
du dx
dy dy du
So  2  3(2 x  5) 2  3u 2  2  
dx du dx
dy dy du
 2  3  2 x  5   3u 2  2  
2
.
dx du dx

dy dy du
This is called the chain rule:   .
dx du dx

Example 1
Differentiate y = (3x2  4)7

Solution
du
Let u  3x 2  4   6x
dx
dy
y  u7   7u 6
du

Using the chain rule:

dy dy du
 
dx du dx
 7u 6  6 x
 42 xu 6
 42 x  3 x 2  4 
6

After some practice, you may find that you can differentiate composite
functions like the one in Example 1 without introducing the variable u.

y   3x 2  4    7  3x 2  4   6 x
7 dy 6

dx

…then multiply by the

derivative of (3x  4)
7 2
Differentiate (…)
6
to get 7(…) …

Example 2
Differentiate y = 1  x 2

Solution
du
Let u  1  x 2   2x
dx

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 Edexcel A level Maths Diff 2 Notes & Examples
1 dy 1  12
y  u  u2   u
du 2

Using the chain rule:

dy dy du
 
dx du dx
1
 12 u 2  2 x
x

u
x

1  x2
1/2
Differentiate (…)
1/2
Alternatively, differentiate directly: to get ½ (…) …

y  1  x 2   dy  12 1  x 2   2 x
1
2  1
2

dx
…then multiply by the
 x 1  x 2 
 12
2
derivative of (1 + x )

Rates of change
The chain rule is also used to solve problems involving related rates of
change.

Example 3
x2
A bank of a reservoir is modelled by the curve y   2 for 10  x  20, where x is
50
measured in metres (see diagram).
y

x
10 15 20

The width of the reservoir is 15 m and is increasing at a rate of 0.2 m per day.
Calculate the rate of change of the depth of the reservoir.

Solution
x2 dy x
y 2   .
50 dx 25
dy 15 3
When x = 15,  
dx 25 5

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dx dx
The rate of increase in width is given by , so  0.2 .
dt dt
dy
The rate of change of depth is given by .
dt
By the chain rule:
dy dy dx
 
dt dx dt
3
  0.2
5
 0.12
So the rate of change of depth is 0.12 m per day.

Inverse functions

dy
For the function y  x3 ,  3x 2
dx
1
The function can be rewritten with x as the subject: x  y 3 ,
dx 1  23 1 1
Differentiating this gives 3y  2  2.
dy 3 y 3 3x

Try this with other functions.

You should find that your results suggest the relationship

dx 1

dy d y
dx

This relationship can be useful if you need to differentiate a function in which x

is given in terms of y and which cannot easily be rewritten to give y in terms of
x. (However, functions like this can also be differentiated using implicit
differentiation – this will be covered later in A level Mathematics).

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