Differentiating Powers of x
What is differentiation?
- Differentiation is the process of finding the derivative (gradient function) of a function
How do I differentiate powers of x?
- Powers of are differentiated according to the following formula:
- If then
- Bring the power down in front as a multiplier
- Then subtract 1 from the power
- This formula is not on the exam formula sheet, so you need to remember it
- If then
- If the power of term is multiplied by a constant
- then the derivative is also multiplied by that constant
- If then
- then the derivative is also multiplied by that constant
- The alternative notation (to) is to use
- If then
- Don't forget these two special cases:
- If then
- e.g. If then
- If then
- e.g. If (or if equals any constant) then
- e.g. If (or if equals any constant) then
- If then
- Functions involving roots will need to be rewritten as fractional powers
- e.g.
- rewrite as
- then differentiate
- e.g.
- Functions involving fractions with in the denominator will need to be rewritten as negative powers
- e.g.
- rewrite as
- then differentiate
- e.g.
How do I differentiate sums and differences of powers of x?
- The formulae can be used to differentiate sums or differences of powers of
- Just differentiate term by term
- e.g.
- Just differentiate term by term
- Products and quotients cannot be differentiated in this way
- These need to be expanded/simplifying first
- e.g.
- Expand to
- Then differentiate term by term
- You can't just multiply the derivatives of and together!
- These can also be differentiated using the product rule or quotient rule
- These need to be expanded/simplifying first
Exam Tip
- Be careful with negative and fractional powers
-
- It's easy to make a mistake when subtracting 1 from these
Worked example
The function is given by
, where
Find the derivative of .
Start by rewriting the term as a power of
By laws of indices,
Now differentiate as powers of