Nikhil Theja Grb - Tutor

The Essential Rules. Use The Definition. The most basic way of calculating derivatives is using the definition. This involves calculating a limit. To calculate derivatives this way is a skill. As with any skill, you only improve with practice. We talk at length about how to use the definition on the page calculating the derivative by definition. The Chain Rule The chain rule is the most important rule for taking derivatives. With it you'll be able to find the derivative of almost any function. To learn about the chain rule go to this page: The Chain Rule. The Product Rule The product rule allows you to find derivatives of functions that are products of other functions. It is a very useful technique, and one of the few formulas you should memorize in calculus. To learn about the product rule go to this page: The Product Rule. The Quotient Rule The quotient rule is just an special case of the product rule, so you don't need to memorize another formula. I'll show you a method for solving derivatives of quotients using the product rule. To learn about this method go to this page: The Quotient Rule. Implicit Differentiation Implicit differentiation allows you to find derivatives of functions expressed in a funny way, that we call implicit. The key is in understanding the chain rule. To learn about implicit differentiation go to this page: Implicit Differentiation. The Essential Formulas Derivative of Trigonometric Functions To start building our knowledge of derivatives we need some formulas. Two basic ones are the derivatives of the trigonometric functions sin(x) and cos(x). We first need to find those two derivatives using the definition. With these in your toolkit you can solve derivatives involving trigonometric functions using other tools like the chain rule or the product rule. To learn about derivatives of trigonometric functions go to this page: Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions. Derivative of Exponential Functions We add another function to the list of those we know how to take the derivative of. This one is really useful and pretty. To learn about the derivative of exponential functions, go to this page. Derivative of Logarithms We add another formula to our list using, once again, the definition of the derivative. The result is pretty amazing. To learn about the derivative of the natural log go to this page: Derivative of ln(x). Derivative of Inverse Trig Functions Here we learn about the derivative of arc sin(x), arc cos(x) and others. These formulas are pretty hard to memorize, so it is good to know how to prove them to yourself. Go to this page: derivative of inverse trig functions.