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0.5: Differentiating Elementary Functions

  • Page ID
    96118
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    0.5.1 The Power Rule

    The derivative of a power of \(x\) is given by

    \[\frac{d}{dx}x^p=px^{p-1}.\nonumber \]

    0.5.2 Trigonometric Functions

    The derivatives of \(\sin x\) and \(\cos x\) are

    \[(\sin x)'=\cos x,\quad (\cos x)'=-\sin x.\nonumber \]

    We thus say that “the derivative of sine is cosine,” and “the derivative of cosine is minus sine.” Notice that the second derivatives satisfy

    \[(\sin x)''=-\sin x,\quad (\cos x)''=-\cos x.\nonumber \]

    0.5.3 Exponential and Natural Logarithm Functions

    The derivative of \(e^x\) and \(\ln x\) are

    \[(e^x)'=e^x,\quad (\ln x)'=\frac{1}{x}.\nonumber \]


    This page titled 0.5: Differentiating Elementary Functions is shared under a CC BY 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jeffrey R. Chasnov via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.