Derivative Rules & Formulas
Power Rule, Product Rule and Quotient Rule
Sr. Derivative Formulas Examples
𝑑 3
Power Rule: 1. (𝑥 ) = 3 𝑥 3−1 = 3𝑥 2 ,
𝑑𝑥
1. 𝑑 𝑛 𝑑 1 𝑑 −3
(𝑥 ) = 𝑛 𝑥 𝑛−1 2. ( 3 ) = (𝑡 −3 ) = −3𝑡 −4 = 4 .
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑡 𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑡
𝑑 𝑑
Generalized Power Rule: (1 − 2𝑥 )3 = 3(1 − 2𝑥 )2 (1 − 2𝑥)
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
2. 𝑑 = 3(1 − 2𝑥 )2 × (−2)
[𝑓(𝑥)]𝑛 = 𝑛[𝑓(𝑥)]𝑛−1 𝑓′(𝑥)
𝑑𝑥
= −6(1 − 2𝑥 )2
𝑑
(𝑥) = 1, 𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
3. 𝑑𝑥 (𝜃) = 1, (𝑠) = 1, (𝑦) = 1.
𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝑦
Derivative of “𝑥” w.r.t. “𝑥” is 1.
𝑑
(𝑐) = 0, 𝑑 𝑑 1 𝑑
4. 𝑑𝑥 (2) = 0, ( ) = 0, (𝜋) = 0.
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 5 𝑑𝑥
Derivative of a constant is zero.
𝑑 𝑑 𝑛 𝑑 𝑑
5. (𝑐𝑥 𝑛 ) = 𝑐 (𝑥 ) = 𝑐𝑛𝑥 𝑛−1 (2𝑥 5 ) = 2 (𝑥 5 ) = 2(5𝑥 4 ) = 10𝑥 4 .
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
Let 𝑢 and 𝑣 be functions of 𝑥, i.e., 𝑢 = 𝑢(𝑥 ), 𝑣 = 𝑣 (𝑥 ). Then,
𝑦 = (𝑥 − 1)(2𝑥 3 − 7𝑥)
𝑑𝑦 𝑑 𝑑
Product Rule: = (𝑥 − 1) (2𝑥 3 − 7𝑥) + (2𝑥 3 − 7𝑥) (𝑥 − 1)
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
6. = (𝑥 − 1)(6𝑥 2 − 7) + (2𝑥 3 − 7𝑥)(1 − 0)
𝑑 𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑢
(𝑢𝑣) = 𝑢 +𝑣
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 = 6𝑥 3 − 7𝑥 − 6𝑥 2 + 7 + 2𝑥 3 − 7𝑥
= 8𝑥 3 − 6𝑥 2 − 14𝑥 + 7
𝑥−1
𝑦=
2𝑥 3 − 7𝑥
Quotient Rule: 3 𝑑 𝑑 3
𝑑𝑦 (2𝑥 − 7𝑥) 𝑑𝑥 (𝑥 − 1) − (𝑥 − 1) 𝑑𝑥 (2𝑥 − 7𝑥)
=
𝑑𝑥 (2𝑥 3 − 7𝑥)2
7. 𝑑𝑢 𝑑𝑣
𝑑 𝑢 𝑣 −𝑢 (2𝑥 3 − 7𝑥)(1 − 0) − (𝑥 − 1)(6𝑥 2 − 7)
( ) = 𝑑𝑥 2 𝑑𝑥 =
(2𝑥 3 − 7𝑥)2
𝑑𝑥 𝑣 𝑣
−4𝑥 3 + 6𝑥 2 − 7
=
(2𝑥 3 − 7𝑥)2
Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
Sr. Formula Generalization
𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
1. (sin 𝑥) = cos 𝑥 (sin 𝑎𝑥) = cos 𝑎𝑥 (𝑎𝑥) = 𝑎 cos 𝑎𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
2. (cos 𝑥) = − sin 𝑥 (cos 𝑎𝑥) = − sin 𝑎𝑥 (𝑎𝑥) = −𝑎 sin 𝑎𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
3. (tan 𝑥) = sec 2 𝑥 (tan 𝑎𝑥) = sec 2 𝑎𝑥 (𝑎𝑥) = 𝑎 sec 2 𝑎𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
4. (cot 𝑥) = − csc 2 𝑥 (cot 𝑎𝑥) = − csc 2 𝑎𝑥 (𝑎𝑥) = − 𝑎 csc 2 𝑎𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
5. (sec 𝑥) = sec 𝑥 tan 𝑥 (sec 𝑎𝑥) = sec 𝑎𝑥 tan 𝑎𝑥 (𝑎𝑥) = 𝑎 sec 𝑎𝑥 tan 𝑎𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
6. (csc 𝑥) = − csc 𝑥 cot 𝑥 (csc 𝑎𝑥 ) = − csc 𝑎𝑥 cot 𝑎𝑥 (𝑎𝑥) = −𝑎 csc 𝑎𝑥 cot 𝑎𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
Derivatives of Logarithmic & Exponential Functions
Sr. Formula Generalization
𝑑 1 𝑑
ln(𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏) = × (𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏)
𝑑 1 𝑑𝑥 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏 𝑑𝑥
1. (ln 𝑥 ) = 1 𝑎
𝑑𝑥 𝑥 = (𝑎 + 0) =
𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏
𝑑 1 𝑑
log 𝑎 (𝑐𝑥 + 𝑑) = × (𝑐𝑥 + 𝑑)
𝑑 1 𝑑𝑥 (𝑐𝑥 + 𝑑) ln 𝑎 𝑑𝑥
2. (log 𝑎 𝑥 ) = 1 𝑐
𝑑𝑥 𝑥 ln 𝑎 = ×𝑐 =
(𝑐𝑥 + 𝑑) ln 𝑎 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏
𝑑 𝑎𝑥+𝑏 𝑑
𝑑 𝑥 (𝑒 ) = 𝑒 𝑎𝑥+𝑏 × (𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏)
3. (𝑒 ) = 𝑒 𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑥 = 𝑎 × 𝑒 𝑎𝑥+𝑏 = 𝑎𝑒 𝑎𝑥+𝑏
𝑑 𝑐𝑥+𝑑 𝑑
𝑑 𝑥 (𝑎 ) = 𝑎𝑐𝑥+𝑑 ln 𝑎 × (𝑐𝑥 + 𝑑)
4. (𝑎 ) = 𝑎 𝑥 ln 𝑎 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑥 = 𝑎𝑐𝑥+𝑑 ln 𝑎 × 𝑐 = 𝑐 ln 𝑎 . 𝑎𝑐𝑥+𝑑
Resource Person: Dr. Muhammad Rayees Ahmad
Assistant Professor
Department of Mathematics
University of Central Punjab (UCP), Lahore.
Email: m.rayeesahmad@ucp.edu.pk
