Math 135 Business Calculus Spring 2009

Class Notes
1.7 The Chain Rule
THE EXTENDED POWER RULE
According to the Power Rule, the derivative of the power function y = xk is given by
d k
(x ) = kxk−1 .
dx
For a power function y = xk , we have a variable x raised to a power k. What is the derivative if,
instead of the variable x raised to a power, we have a function raised to a power, such as
d £ §k
g(x)
dx
£ §2
In particular, suppose we want the derivative of y = g(x) . We can compute this using the Product
Rule:
d £ §2 d £ §
g(x) = g(x) · g(x)
dx dx
= g 0 (x) · g(x) + g(x) · g 0 (x)
= 2g(x) · g 0 (x)
This resembles the result of differentiating y = x2 . The exponent 2 has been pulled down in front of
the function and the power has been reduced by 1. However, we also have a factor of g 0 (x) that appears
in the derivative. This is a special case of the following general rule:

THEOREM 7 The Extended Power Rule

Suppose that g(x) is a differentiable function of x. Then, for any real number k,
d £ §k £ §k−1 d £ § £ §k−1 0
g(x) = k g(x) · g(x) = k g(x) · g (x).
dx dx

In this rule, we can think of g(x) as the “inside” function and the kth power as the “outside”
function. The rule can then be viewed as follows.
derivative of
power function
z }| {
d £ §k £ §k−1
g(x) = k g(x) · g 0 (x)
dx | {z }
derivative of
inside function

EXAMPLE Differentiate f (x) = (7x2 + x3 )5 .

27
28 Chapter 1 Differentiation

EXAMPLE Differentiate h(x) = (7x2 + x3 )1/2 .

r
4
x+3
EXAMPLE Differentiate f (x) = .
x−2

EXAMPLE Differentiate f (x) = (3x − 5)4 (7 − x)10 .

 1.7 The Chain Rule 29

COMPOSITION OF FUNCTIONS AND THE CHAIN RULE

The Extended Power Rule is a special case of a more general differentiation rule that can be used to
compute the derivative of the composition of any two functions.
EXAMPLE The number of gallons of paint needed to paint a house depends upon the size of the
house. A gallon of paint typically covers 250 square feet. This means the number of gallons of paint,
n, is a function of the area, A, to be painted according to the function
A
n = g(A) = .
250
Suppose a gallon of paint costs $27.50. Then the cost C of n gallons of paint is given by the function
C = f (n) = 27.5n.
Find a function for the cost C to paint an area of A square feet.

In the above example, the cost C of n gallons of paint is a function of n, C = f (n), where n is itself
a function of the area A to be painted, n = g(A). The cost to paint an area A is then a “function of a
function,” or a composite function. If the function giving C in terms of A is denoted h, so C = h(A),
then we write
C = h(A) = (f ◦ g)(A).
The function h is called the composition of the functions f and g.

DEFINITION OF COMPOSITION OF FUNCTIONS

Suppose f (x) and g(x) are two functions. The composition of f and g, denoted f ◦ g, is defined by
° ¢
(f ◦ g)(x) = f g(x) .

If we represent the two functions f and

g by two machines, we can visualize the
composition of functions as shown in the
figure. The input to g is x. The output
g(x) of g is used as the
° input
¢ to f . The
output to f is then f g(x) .
30 Chapter 1 Differentiation

1
EXAMPLE Let f (x) = x3 and g(x) = . Find
x
a) (f ◦ g)(x)

b) (g ◦ f )(x)

° ¢
Given a composition (f ◦ g)(x) = f g(x) , we can think of g as the “inside function” and f as the
“outside function.”
outside function
z ° }| ¢{
(f ◦ g)(x) = f g(x)
|{z}
inside
function
We sometimes have to “decompose” a complicated function and write it as the composition of two
simpler functions.
1
EXAMPLE Suppose h(x) = √ . Find functions f (x) and g(x) such that h(x) = (f ◦ g)(x).
7x + 2
 1.7 The Chain Rule 31

The next theorem now tells us how to differentiate a composition of functions.

THEOREM 8 The Chain Rule

The derivative of the composition f ◦ g is given by
derivative of
outer function
d £ § d £ ° ¢§ ° ¢ z ° }| ¢{
(f ◦ g)(x) = f g(x) = f 0 g(x) · g 0 (x) = f 0 g(x) · g 0 (x)
dx dx | {z }
derivative of
inner function

In Leibniz’s notation, if y = f (u) and u = g(x), then

dy dy du
= · .
dx du dx
This says that the derivative of the composition is the product of the derivatives of the outside and
inside functions.
√
EXAMPLE Suppose f (u) = 2 + u and u = g(x) = x3 + 1. Find (f ◦ g)0 (x)
a) By using the Chain Rule.

b) By first finding (f ◦ g)(x) and then differentiating.