Calculus Examples

$\frac{\sqrt{x + 1} - 2}{x - 3}$

Step 1

Use $\sqrt[n]{a^{x}} = a^{\frac{x}{n}}$ to rewrite $\sqrt{x + 1}$ as ${(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}$ .

$\frac{d}{d x} [\frac{{(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2}{x - 3}]$

Step 2

Differentiate using the Quotient Rule which states that $\frac{d}{d x} [\frac{f (x)}{g (x)}]$ is $\frac{g (x) \frac{d}{d x} [f (x)] - f (x) \frac{d}{d x} [g (x)]}{{g (x)}^{2}}$ where $f (x) = {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2$ and $g (x) = x - 3$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) \frac{d}{d x} [{(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2] - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 3

By the Sum Rule, the derivative of ${(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2$ with respect to $x$ is $\frac{d}{d x} [{(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{d}{d x} [{(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 4

Differentiate using the chain rule, which states that $\frac{d}{d x} [f (g (x))]$ is $f' (g (x)) g' (x)$ where $f (x) = x^{\frac{1}{2}}$ and $g (x) = x + 1$ .

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Step 4.1

To apply the Chain Rule, set $u_{1}$ as $x + 1$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{d}{d u_{1}} [{u_{1}}^{\frac{1}{2}}] \frac{d}{d x} [x + 1] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 4.2

Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that $\frac{d}{d u_{1}} [{u_{1}}^{n}]$ is $n {u_{1}}^{n - 1}$ where $n = \frac{1}{2}$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2} {u_{1}}^{\frac{1}{2} - 1} \frac{d}{d x} [x + 1] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 4.3

Replace all occurrences of $u_{1}$ with $x + 1$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2} {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2} - 1} \frac{d}{d x} [x + 1] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 5

To write $- 1$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{2}{2}$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2} {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2} - 1 \cdot \frac{2}{2}} \frac{d}{d x} [x + 1] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 6

Combine $- 1$ and $\frac{2}{2}$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2} {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2} + \frac{- 1 \cdot 2}{2}} \frac{d}{d x} [x + 1] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 7

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2} {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1 - 1 \cdot 2}{2}} \frac{d}{d x} [x + 1] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 8

Simplify the numerator.

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Step 8.1

Multiply $- 1$ by $2$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2} {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1 - 2}{2}} \frac{d}{d x} [x + 1] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 8.2

Subtract $2$ from $1$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2} {(x + 1)}^{\frac{- 1}{2}} \frac{d}{d x} [x + 1] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 9

Combine fractions.

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Step 9.1

Move the negative in front of the fraction.

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2} {(x + 1)}^{- \frac{1}{2}} \frac{d}{d x} [x + 1] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 9.2

Combine $\frac{1}{2}$ and ${(x + 1)}^{- \frac{1}{2}}$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{{(x + 1)}^{- \frac{1}{2}}}{2} \frac{d}{d x} [x + 1] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 9.3

Move ${(x + 1)}^{- \frac{1}{2}}$ to the denominator using the negative exponent rule $b^{- n} = \frac{1}{b^{n}}$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} \frac{d}{d x} [x + 1] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 10

By the Sum Rule, the derivative of $x + 1$ with respect to $x$ is $\frac{d}{d x} [x] + \frac{d}{d x} [1]$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} (\frac{d}{d x} [x] + \frac{d}{d x} [1]) + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 11

Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that $\frac{d}{d x} [x^{n}]$ is $n x^{n - 1}$ where $n = 1$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} (1 + \frac{d}{d x} [1]) + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 12

Since $1$ is constant with respect to $x$ , the derivative of $1$ with respect to $x$ is $0$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} (1 + 0) + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 13

Simplify the expression.

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Step 13.1

Add $1$ and $0$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} \cdot 1 + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 13.2

Multiply $\frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}$ by $1$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} + \frac{d}{d x} [- 2]) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 14

Since $- 2$ is constant with respect to $x$ , the derivative of $- 2$ with respect to $x$ is $0$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) (\frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} + 0) - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 15

Add $\frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}$ and $0$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) \frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \frac{d}{d x} [x - 3]}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 16

By the Sum Rule, the derivative of $x - 3$ with respect to $x$ is $\frac{d}{d x} [x] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 3]$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) \frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) (\frac{d}{d x} [x] + \frac{d}{d x} [- 3])}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 17

Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that $\frac{d}{d x} [x^{n}]$ is $n x^{n - 1}$ where $n = 1$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) \frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) (1 + \frac{d}{d x} [- 3])}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 18

Since $- 3$ is constant with respect to $x$ , the derivative of $- 3$ with respect to $x$ is $0$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) \frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) (1 + 0)}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 19

Simplify the expression.

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Step 19.1

Add $1$ and $0$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) \frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2) \cdot 1}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 19.2

Multiply $- 1$ by $1$ .

$\frac{(x - 3) \frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} - ({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - 2)}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20

Simplify.

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Step 20.1

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{(x - 3) \frac{1}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} - {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} - - 2}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20.2

Simplify the numerator.

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Step 20.2.1

Let $u_{2} = {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}$ . Substitute $u_{2}$ for all occurrences of ${(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}$ .

$\frac{- \frac{2 {u_{2}}^{2} - x - 4 u_{2} + 3}{2 u_{2}}}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20.2.2

Replace all occurrences of $u_{2}$ with ${(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}$ .

$\frac{- \frac{2 {({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}})}^{2} - x - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} + 3}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20.2.3

Simplify the numerator.

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Step 20.2.3.1

Multiply the exponents in ${({(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}})}^{2}$ .

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Step 20.2.3.1.1

Apply the power rule and multiply exponents, ${(a^{m})}^{n} = a^{m n}$ .

$\frac{- \frac{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2} \cdot 2} - x - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} + 3}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20.2.3.1.2

Cancel the common factor of $2$ .

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Step 20.2.3.1.2.1

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{- \frac{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2} \cdot 2} - x - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} + 3}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20.2.3.1.2.2

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{- \frac{2 {(x + 1)}^{1} - x - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} + 3}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20.2.3.2

Simplify.

$\frac{- \frac{2 (x + 1) - x - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} + 3}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20.2.3.3

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{- \frac{2 x + 2 \cdot 1 - x - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} + 3}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20.2.3.4

Multiply $2$ by $1$ .

$\frac{- \frac{2 x + 2 - x - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} + 3}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20.2.3.5

Subtract $x$ from $2 x$ .

$\frac{- \frac{x + 2 - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} + 3}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20.2.3.6

Add $2$ and $3$ .

$\frac{- \frac{x + 5 - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20.3

Combine terms.

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Step 20.3.1

Rewrite $\frac{- \frac{x + 5 - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$ as a product.

$- \frac{x + 5 - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}} \cdot \frac{1}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$

Step 20.3.2

Multiply $\frac{1}{{(x - 3)}^{2}}$ by $\frac{x + 5 - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}$ .

$- \frac{x + 5 - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}{{(x - 3)}^{2} (2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}})}$

Step 20.3.3

Move $2$ to the left of ${(x - 3)}^{2}$ .

$- \frac{x + 5 - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}{2 {(x - 3)}^{2} {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}$

Step 20.4

Reorder factors in $- \frac{x + 5 - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}{2 {(x - 3)}^{2} {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}$ .

$- \frac{x + 5 - 4 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}{2 {(x + 1)}^{\frac{1}{2}} {(x - 3)}^{2}}$