TheoremProved
Chain rule
Statement
If is differentiable at and is differentiable at , then is differentiable at and .
Why is it true?
Rates of change compose by multiplying: if quantity y changes twice as fast as quantity u, and u changes three times as fast as x, then y changes six times as fast as x.
Proof sketch
Since is differentiable at , write for near , where as (setting ). Substitute , which tends to as by continuity of at (itself a consequence of differentiability), and divide by : as .
Topics that use this theorem
Related theorems
Step-by-step proofs
No step-by-step proof yet for this theorem.
References
- James Stewart (2015). Calculus
- C. H. Edwards (1979). The Historical Development of the Calculus