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Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
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Derivative rules

0. slope of tangent $\displaystyle f'(a)=\lim_{b\to a}{{f(b)-f(a)}\over {b-a}}$ $\displaystyle f'(x)=\lim_{h\to 0}{{f(x+h)-f(x)}\over h}$
1. sum (f+g)'=f'+g'  
2. difference (f-g)'=f'-g'  
3. constant multiple (cf)'=cf'  
4. product (fg)'=f'g+fg'  
5. quotient $\displaystyle\left({f\over g}\right)'={{f'g-fg'}\over {g^2}}$  
6. composition (chain) $ (f\circ g)'=(f'\circ g)g'$ $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}f(g(x))=f'(g(x))g'(x)$
7. inverse $\displaystyle(f^{-1})'={1\over {f'\circ f^{-1}}}$ $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}f^{-1}(x)={1\over {f'(f^{-1}(x))}}$
8. constant   $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}c=0$
9. power   $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}x^n=nx^{n-1}$
10. exponent   $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}a^x=a^x\ln a$
11.     $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}e^x=e^x$
12. logarithm   $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}\log_bx={1\over {x\ln b}}$ restricted to $ (0,\infty )$
13.     $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}\ln x={1\over x}$ restricted to $ (0,\infty )$
14. sin $\sin'=\cos$ $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}\sin(x)=\cos(x)$
15. cos $\cos'=-\sin$  
16. tan $\displaystyle\tan'={1\over {\cos^2}}$ $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}\tan(x)={1\over {\cos^2(x)}}$
17. arcsin   $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}\arcsin(x)={1\over {\root \of {1-x^2}}}$
18. arccos   $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}\arccos(x)=-{1\over {\root \of {1-x^2}}}$
19. arctan   $\displaystyle{{d\over {dx}}}\arctan(x)={1\over {1+x^2}}$