Calculus Examples

$h (x) = {(x^{2} - 1)}^{2}$

Step 1

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

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Step 1.1

To apply the Chain Rule, set $u$ as $x^{2} - 1$ .

$\frac{d}{d u} [u^{2}] \frac{d}{d x} [x^{2} - 1]$

Step 1.2

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

$2 u \frac{d}{d x} [x^{2} - 1]$

Step 1.3

Replace all occurrences of $u$ with $x^{2} - 1$ .

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

Step 2

Differentiate.

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Step 2.1

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

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

Step 2.2

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

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

Step 2.3

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

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

Step 2.4

Simplify the expression.

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Step 2.4.1

Add $2 x$ and $0$ .

$2 (x^{2} - 1) (2 x)$

Step 2.4.2

Multiply $2$ by $2$ .

$4 (x^{2} - 1) x$

Step 3

Simplify.

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Step 3.1

Apply the distributive property.

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

Step 3.2

Apply the distributive property.

$4 x^{2} x + 4 \cdot - 1 x$

Step 3.3

Combine terms.

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Step 3.3.1

Raise $x$ to the power of $1$ .

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

Step 3.3.2

Use the power rule $a^{m} a^{n} = a^{m + n}$ to combine exponents.

$4 x^{1 + 2} + 4 \cdot - 1 x$

Step 3.3.3

Add $1$ and $2$ .

$4 x^{3} + 4 \cdot - 1 x$

Step 3.3.4

Multiply $4$ by $- 1$ .

$4 x^{3} - 4 x$