The Chain Rule – Examples of the various types of function it can be used to differentiate.
The Chain Rule is one of the primary differentiation rules, used to differentiate composite functions. It is a very powerful rule which allows us to differentiate a range of types of function. When students first see the rule it’s with a limited set of functions. However, to get the most out of it, students need to see the many different situations it can be applied to. In this video, I recap the chain rule and then we look at examples of functions it can be used to differentiate. Any questions about this video drop us a message HERE.
Key Points
The Chain Rule is for differentiating composite functions only
These can appear in many ways so try to learn some common forms
The rule essentially says to differentiate twice – once for the inner and once for the outer function
These two differentiation results are then multiplied together
The ‘rules’ for differentiating Trigonometric functions is actually a specific use of the Chain Rule
A bracket with a power on it is another common function type for using this rule
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