The chain rule, Derivatives of equations – HP 49g+ User Manual

Page 437

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derivatives, utilizing the same symbol for both. The user must keep this
distinction in mind when translating results from the calculator to paper.

The chain rule

The chain rule for derivatives applies to derivatives of composite functions. A
general expression for the chain-rule is d{f[g(x)]}/dx = (df/dg)

⋅ (dg/dx).

Using the calculator, this formula results in:


The terms d1 in front of g(x) and f(g(x)) in the expression above are
abbreviations the calculator uses to indicate a first derivative when the
independent variable, in this case x, is clearly defined.

Thus, the latter result is

interpreted as in the formula for the chain rule shown above. Here is another
example of a chain rule application:

Derivatives of equations

You can use the calculator to calculate derivatives of equations, i.e.,
expressions in which derivatives will exist in both sides of the equal sign.
Some examples are shown below:

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