Chain rule and implicit differentiation - AP Calculus AB

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Question

Determine the derivative of f(x)=2\tan ^2(x^2)

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Answer

This is a pure problem on understanding how chain rules work for derivatives.

First thing we need to remember is that the derivative of \tan(x) is \sec^2(x).

When we are taking the derivative of f(x)=2\tan ^2(x^2), we can first pull out the 2 in the front and we treat \tan^2(x^2) as [\tan(x^2)]^2.

This way, the derivative will become 22\tan(x^2)*\frac{\mathrm{d} tan(x^2)}{\mathrm{d} x},

which is 4\tan(x^2)*(2x\sec(x^2)).

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