Differentiation Formulas: What Is Differentiation?

Differentiation is a process of calculating a function that represents the rate of change of one variable with
respect to another. Differentiation and derivatives have immense application not only in our day-to-day life
but also in higher mathematics.

Differentiation Definition: Let’s say y is a function of x and is expressed as y = f(x) y=f(x). Then, the rate
dy
of change of “y” per unit change in “x” is given by dx dydx.

dy
Here, dx dydx is known as differentiation of y with respect to x. It is also denoted as f ′ (x) f′(x).

In general, if the function f(x) undergoes infinitesimal change h near to any point x, then the derivative of
the function is depicted as:

f(x+h)−f(x)
lim h→∞ h
limh→∞f(x+h)−f(x)h

Check other important Maths articles:

Algebra Formulas Log Table

Geometry Formulas Probability Formula

Arithmetic Progression Formulas Compound Interest Formula

 Trigonometry Formulas Permutation and Combination

Mensuration Formulas HCF

Rules Of Differentiation
There are mainly 7 types of differentiation rules that are widely used to solve problems relate to
differentiation:

Power Rule: When we need to find the derivative of an exponential function, the power rule states that:
d n
dx
x = n × x n−1 ddxxn=n×xn−1

Product Rule: When f(x) f(x) is the product of two functions, a(x) a(x) and b(x) b(x), then the product rule
states that:
d d d d
dx
f(x) = dx
[a(x) × b(x)] = b(x) × dx
a(x) + a(x) × dx b(x) ddxf(x)=ddx[a(x)×b(x)]=b(x)×ddxa(x)+a(x)×ddxb(x)

a(x)
Quotient Rule: When f(x) f(x) is of the form b(x)
a(x)b(x), then the quotient rule states that:
d d
d d a(x) b(x)× dx a(x)−a(x)× dx b(x)
dx
f(x) = [
dx b(x)
]= ddxf(x)=ddx[a(x)b(x)]=b(x)×ddxa(x)−a(x)×ddxb(x)[b(x)]2
[b(x)]2

Sum or Difference Rule: When a function f(x) f(x) is the sum or difference of two functions a(x) a(x) and
b(x) b(x), then the sum or difference formula states that:
d d d d
dx
f(x) = dx
[a(x) ± b(x)] = dx
a(x) ± dx b(x) ddxf(x)=ddx[a(x)±b(x)]=ddxa(x)±ddxb(x)

Derivative of a Constant: Derivative of a constant is always zero.

Suppose f(x) = c f(x)=c, where c is a constant. We have,
d d
dx
f(x) = dx
(c) = 0 ddxf(x)=ddx(c)=0

Derivative of a Constant Multiplied with a Function f f: When we need to find out the derivative of a
constant multiplied with a function, we apply this rule:
d
dx
[c × f(x)] = c × d f(x) ddx[c×f(x)]=c×ddxf(x)
dx

Chain Rule: The chain rule of differentiation states that:

dy dy du
dx
= du
× dx
dydx=dydu×dudx

Differentiation Formulas List

The table below provides the derivatives of basic functions, constant, a constant multiplied with a function,
power rule, sum and difference rule, product and quotient rule, etc. Differentiation formulas of basic
logarithmic and polynomial functions are also provided.

d
(i) dx (k) = 0 ddx(k)=0

d du
(ii) dx (ku) = k dx ddx(ku)=kdudx

d du dv
(iii) dx (u ± v) = dx ± dx ddx(u±v)=dudx±dvdx

d dv du
(iv) dx (uv) = u dx + v dx ddx(uv)=udvdx+vdudx

d v du −u dv
(v) dx (u/v) = dx dx
ddx(u/v)=vdudx−udvdxv2
v2

dy dx
(vi) dx . dy = 1 dydx.dxdy=1
 d
(vii) dx (x n ) = nx n−1 ddx(xn)=nxn−1

d
(viii) dx (ex ) = ex ddx(ex)=ex

d
(ix) dx (a x ) = a x log a ddx(ax)=axloga

d
(x) dx (log x) = x1 ddx(logx)=1x

d 1
(xi) dx loga x = loga e ddxlogax=1xlogae
x
n
(xii) dd n (ax + b) n = n!a n dndxn(ax+b)n=n!an
x

Let us now look into the differentiation formulas for different types of functions.

Differentiation Formulas For Trigonometric Functions

Sine (sin), cosine (cos), tangent (tan), secant (sec), cosecant (cosec), and cotangent (cot) are the six
commonly used trigonometric functions each of which represents the ratio of two sides of a triangle. The
derivatives of trigonometric functions are as under:

d
(i) dx (sin x) = cos x ddx(sinx)=cosx

d
(ii) dx (cos x) = − sin x ddx(cosx)=−sinx

d
(iii) dx (tan x) = sec2 x ddx(tanx)=sec2x

d
(iv) dx (cot x) =– cosec2 x ddx(cotx)=–cosec2x

d
(v) dx (sec x) = sec x tan x ddx(secx)=secxtanx

d
(vi) dx (cosecx) =– cosecx cot x ddx(cosecx)=–cosecxcotx

d du
(vii) dx (sin u) = cos u dx ddx(sinu)=cosududx

d du
(viii) dx (cos u) = − sin u dx ddx(cosu)=−sinududx

d du
(ix) dx (tan u) = sec2 u dx ddx(tanu)=sec2ududx

d du
(x) dx (cot u) =– cosec2 u dx ddx(cotu)=–cosec2ududx

d du
(xi) dx (sec u) = sec u tan u dx ddx(secu)=secutanududx

d du
(xii) dx (cosecu) =– cosecu cot u dx ddx(cosecu)=–cosecucotududx

Differentiation Formulas For Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Inverse trigonometric functions like ( sin −1 x) sin−1 x) , ( cos−1 x) cos−1 x) , and ( tan −1 x) tan−1 x) represents
the unknown measure of an angle (of a right angled triangle) when lengths of the two sides are known. The
derivatives of inverse trigonometric functions are as under:
 d
(i) dx (sin −1 x) ddx(sin−1 x) = 1
11−x2
√ 1−x 2

d
(ii) dx (cos−1 x) ddx(cos−1 x) = - 1 2 11−x2
√ 1−x

d
(iii) dx (tan −1 x) ddx(tan−1 x) = 1 2 11+x2
1+x

d
(iv) dx (cot −1 x) ddx(cot−1 x) = - 1 2 11+x2
1+x

d
(v) dx (sec−1 x) ddx(sec−1 x) = 1
1xx2−1
x√ x 2 −1

d
(vi) dx (coses −1 x) ddx(coses−1 x) = - 1
1xx2−1
x√ x 2 −1

d du
(vii) dx (sin −1 u) ddx(sin−1 u) = 1
11−u2dudx
√ 1−u 2 dx

d du
(viii) dx (cos−1 u) ddx(cos−1 u) = - 1 2 dx 11−u2dudx
√ 1−u

d du
(ix) dx (tan −1 u) ddx(tan−1 u) = 1 2 dx 11+u2dudx
1+u

Differentiation Formulas For Hyperbolic Functions

The hyperbolic function of an angle is expressed as a relationship between the distances from a point on a
hyperbola to the origin and to the coordinate axes. The derivatives of hyperbolic functions are as under:

d
(i) dx (sinh x) = cosh x ddx(sinh x)=coshx

d
(ii) dx (cosh x) = sinh x ddx(cosh x)=sinhx

d
(iii) dx (tanh x) = sech 2 x ddx(tanh x)=sech2x

d
(iv) dx (coth x) = −cosech 2 x ddx(coth x)=−cosech2x

d
(v) dx (sech x) = −sechx tanh x ddx(sech x)=−sechxtanhx

d
(vi) dx (cosech x) = −cosechx coth x ddx(cosech x)=−cosechxcothx

d −1 1
(vii) dx (sinh x) ddx(sinh−1 x) = 1x2+1
√ x 2 +1

d −1 1
(viii) dx (cosh x) ddx(cosh−1 x) = 1x2−1
√ x 2 −1

d −1 1
(ix) dx (tanh x) ddx(tanh−1 x) = 11−x2
1−x 2

d −1
(x) dx (coth x) ddx(coth−1 x) = - 1−x1 2 11−x2

d
(xi) dx (sec h −1 x) ddx(sech−1 x) = - 1
1x1−x2
x√ 1−x 2

d
(xii) dx (cosh −1 x) ddx(cosh−1 x) = -