Common Calculus Mistakes
Example: Chain Rule

The Goal

Find

goal


The Mistake

Find the mistake:

mistake

Need a hint? Look carefully at the red part:

mistake


The Correction

correction


An Explanation

When the chain rule is applied to the composition of the (natural) exponential function f(t) = et and the function g(t), the result is:

formula

In this case g(t) = t2, so g'(t) = 2t.
It is usual to write the 2t factor in front of the exponential in the answer.

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