The Chain Rule Onion

Students expand their differentiation toolkit to include the Chain Rule for composite functions, implicit differentiation for non-explicit relations, and derivatives of inverse functions. The Chain Rule Onion turns that idea into something you can manipulate directly and watch respond.

Students expand their differentiation toolkit to include the Chain Rule for composite functions, implicit differentiation for non-explicit relations, and derivatives of inverse functions. It focuses on The Chain Rule, Implicit Differentiation, Derivatives of and, Derivatives of Inverse Trigonometric Functions, Selecting Procedures for Derivatives, Higher-Order Derivatives from the “Unit 3: Differentiation: Composite, Implicit, and Inverse Functions” section.

The “Input:” slider change the key inputs. Every change updates the visualization in real time, so you can see exactly how each variable affects the outcome.

AP Calculus AB is a college-level course that explores the concepts of limits, derivatives, and integrals. Students learn to approach mathematical problems through multiple representations—graphical, numerical, analytic… This demo is the interactive piece for the “Unit 3: Differentiation: Composite, Implicit, and Inverse Functions” section. Open the full AP Calculus AB course wiki at https://www.getlykke.com/explore/public/ap-calculus-ab-c14bedc7-55ee-4bd3-99ff-a9a537a06a66 for notes, flashcards, quizzes and the other demos.

You'll build intuition for The Chain Rule, Implicit Differentiation, Derivatives of and, Derivatives of Inverse Trigonometric Functions, Selecting Procedures for Derivatives, Higher-Order Derivatives — and, crucially, see how they behave when you change the inputs, which is hard to get from a textbook or lecture on AP Calculus AB alone.