Question

How do you differentiate `y = (x^3 + 4)(-x^6 + x^4)`?

Answer 1

`dy/dx = -9x^8 -24x^5 +7x^6 +16x^3`

Explanation:

The easiest way is to simply multiply the two brackets

`y = -x^9 -4x^6 + x^7 + 4x^4`

And then take the derivative of polinomials like this

`dy/dx = -9x^8 -24x^5 +7x^6 +16x^3`

You could use the product rule but this is a case where the simplest way is to foil the multiplication and then derive the result.