Using the Correct Rule(s) - At A Glance

"Work from the outside in" is a suggestion for how to organize our work when the derivatives become more difficult to manage. We want to start with the outer-most operation, and work in from there. The "outer-most" operation is the one that would be performed last if we were typing things into a calculator. This is similar to top-down design in computer programming.

Example 1

Find the derivative of


Example 2

Find the derivative of