The Product and Quotient Rules

The Product Rule

This is another very useful formula:
d (uv) = vdu + udv
dx
dx dx
This is used when differentiating a product of two functions.
Example

Differentiate x(x + 1)
let u = x and v = x + 1
d (uv) = (x + 1) + x(2x) = x + 1 + 2x = 3x + 1 .
dx
Again, with practise you shouldn"t have to write out u = ... and v = ...
every time.

The Quotient Rule

d (u/v) = v(du/dx) - u(dv/dx)
dx
v
Example

If y =

x , find dy/dx
x+4

Let u = x and v = (x + 4). Using the quotient rule, dy/dx =

(x + 4)(3x) - x(1) = 2x + 12x
(x + 4)
(x + 4)