MATH 136 More Derivatives:

Product Rule, Quotient Rule, Chain Rule

The Product Rule gives the formula for differentiating the product of two functions, and
the Quotient Rule gives the formula for differentiating the quotient of two functions.

(uv )′ = u′ v + u v ′
Product Rule

 u  ' u′ v − u v ′
  =
 v v2
Quotient Rule

Example 1. Find the derivative of each function and simplify:

3x
(a) f ( x) = 4x 3 sin x (b) g(x ) = e cos x (c) h(x ) = x ln x

Solution. For each, we use the product rule.

(a) f ′ (x ) = 12 x 2 sin x + 4 x3 cos x

(b) g ′( x) = 3e3 x cos x + e 3x (− sin x) = e3 x (3cos x − sin x )

x 1 x ( ln x + 1)
(c) h ′( x) = ln x + x =
x x x

Example 2. Find the derivative of each function and simplify:

8sin x cos(4x ) 4 x2
(a) f ( x) = (b) g(x ) = (c) h(x ) = 4x
3x 4 x e

Solution. For each, we use the quotient rule:

(8 cosx) × 3x 4 − (8sin x) × 12x 3 24 x 4 cos x − 96 x 3 sin x 8 x cos x − 32sin x

(a) f ′ (x ) = = =
9x 8 3x 5
( 3x4 ) 2
cos(4 x )
−4sin(4x ) × x − cos(4x ) × (1 / 2)x −1/2 −4 x sin(4x ) − 2 x
g ′( x) = =
(b) ( x )2 x

−8x sin(4x ) − cos(4x )

=
2x 3/2
 4x 2
(c) h ′( x) =
8x × e4 x − 4 x 2 (4e 4 x ) e 8x − 16 x
=
( =
)
8x − 16x 2
(e 4 x )2 (e4 x )2 e4 x

The Chain Rule

The Chain Rule gives the process for differentiating a composition of functions:

If y = f (g(x)) , then

dy
= f ′(g(x)) × g ′(x) .
dx

We have already used the Chain Rule for functions of the form y = f (mx) to obtain
y ′ = m × f ′ (mx) . For instance, if y = sin(4 x) , then y ′ = 4 cos(4x ) . But the Chain Rule
applies to a general composition of functions y = f (g(x)) , where g(x ) is not just the
linear function m x .

3 4
( )
Example 3. Let f (x) = 9x − 8sec x . Find f ′(x) .

Solution: The function is of the form y = ( g( x) )4 . So y ′ = 4 ( g(x ))3 × g ′( x) . Thus we

3 3
(
have f ′(x) = 4 9x − 8sec x ) × (27 x2 − 8sec x tan x) .
16
Example 4. Let f (x) = 3 . Find f ′(x) .
( 25 − 4x 2
)
2 −3
Solution. We first re-write f as f (x) = 16 25 − 4x ( ) . Then by the Chain Rule,

2 −4 384 x
(
f ′(x) = −48 25 − 4x ) × (−8x) = 4.
( 25 − 4x 2 )

Example 5. Let f (x) = sin 3 (2 π x) . Find f ′(x) .

Solution. We first re-write f as f (x) = (sin(2π x))3 . Then applying the Chain Rule
twice, we obtain

2 2
f ′(x) = 3(sin(2π x)) × cos(2 π x)× (2π) = 6π sin (2 π x) cos(2 π x ) .
 From Example 5, we see that we may have to apply the Chain Rule more than once
when we have a function of the form y = f (g(h(x ))) . Here, we have

y ′ = f ′ (g(h(x ))) × g ′(h(x )) × h′ (x ) ,

which is “the derivative of the outside times the derivative of the inside times the
derivative of the next inside . . . ”

Example 6. Let f (x) = cos(4x) . Find f ′(x) .

Solution. Applying the Chain Rule twice, we obtain

cos(4x)
f ′(x) = × (− sin(4x))× 4 = −4 cos(4x) tan(4x) .
cos(4x)

4
Example 7. Let f (x) = . Find f ′(x) .
sec 2 x + tan 2 x

2 2 −1/ 2
(
Solution. We first re-write f as f (x) = 4 sec (x) + tan (x) ) . Then applying the
Chain Rule, we first have

( 2
f ′(x) = −2 sec x + tan x
2
)−3/2 × dxd (sec 2 x + tan 2 x ) ;
2 2
but we still must take the derivative of the “inner function” sec x + tan x . We apply
the Chain Rule to each term: 2sec x × (sec x tan x) + 2 tan x × (sec 2 x ) ; thus,

−2 2 2 −8 sec 2 x tan x
f ′(x) = 3/2 (
× 2sec x tan x + 2 tan x sec x )= 3/2 .
(sec 2 x + tan 2 x ) (sec 2 x + tan 2 x )

Some derivatives require using a combination of the Product, Quotient, and Chain
rules.

sin(4x 3 )
Example 8. Let f (x) = 6 . Find f ′(x) .
(9 − )3x 2

Solution. We apply the Quotient Rule, but use the Chain Rule when differentiating the
numerator and the denominator:
 6 5
cos(4x 3 ) × (12x 2 ) × 9 − 3x 2
( ) − sin(4x 3 ) × 6 9 − 3x 2
( ) × (−6x)
f ′(x) =
( 9 − 3x2 )12
12x 2 (9 − 3x 2 ) cos(4x 3 ) + 36x sin(4x 3 )
= 7
. (After factoring out (9 − 3x 2 ) 5 .)
( 9 − 3x 2 )

Example 9. Let f (x) = tan 4 (2x) 9 − x 2 . Find f ′(x) .

Solution. We first re-write f as f (x) = (tan(2x))4 × (9 − x 2 )1/ 2 . Then

3 2 2 1/ 2 1
f ′(x) = 4(tan(2x)) × sec (2x) × 2 × (9 − x ) + (tan(2x)) 4 × (9 − x 2 )−1/ 2 × (−2x )
2

x tan 4 (2x)
= 8 tan 3 (2x) sec2 (2x) 9 − x 2 −
9 − x2
8 tan 3 (2x ) sec2 (2x ) 9 − x 2 − x tan 4 (2x )
( )
= .
9 − x2