How do you use the chain rule to differentiate y=(x+1)^(1/2)?

1 Answer
Jul 31, 2016

dy/dx = (1/2)(x+1)^(-1/2)

Explanation:

First, we need to use the power rule to take the derivative of outside.

dy/dx = (1/2)(x+1)^(-1/2)

Chain rule basically tells you to take the derivative of inside of the function. In this case, the derivative of (x+1) is just 1, which wouldn't make any changes to previous derivative.

dy/dx = (1/2)(x+1)^(-1/2)*1