Tangent line to a curve at a point and local linear approximation - AP Calculus AB

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Question

Differentiate,

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Answer

Differentiate,

Strategy

This one at first glance appears difficult even if we recognize that the chain rule is needed; we have a function within a function within a function within a function. To avoid making mistakes, it's best to start by defining variables to make the calculation easier to follow.

Let's start with the outermost function, we will write as a function of by setting,

                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                 Similarly, define to write as a function of

                                                                                                                 Write as a function of

                                                                                                                 Finally, define the inner-most function, , as the function of

                                                                                                                  

Since we will just substitute that in and move to the front.

That was easy enough, now just write everything in terms of by going back to the definitions of and .

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