How to Use the Power Rule in Calculus

The Power Rule

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The Power Rule is one of the simplest tools of a mathematician in calculus. This article will help you learn the equation, and how to use it.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Paper
Pencil
Calculator

Step1

The Power Rule The first thing you have to do is identify whether or not the power rule applies to the equation you are trying to differentiate. Match your equation with the power rule equation (as a definition).

Step2

Identify the variables in your equation and associate them with the variables in the definition equation.

Step3

Now take the original exponent (n) and put it in front of the variable. This means that you will have to multiply the original constant by n to make the new constant.

Step4

Finally, decrease the exponent by 1. This may seem odd when you have to reduce 1.5 to 0.5 or -4 to -5, but it's the right process.

Tips & Warnings

When doing work that is to be submitted for a class, show all your steps.
Pay close attention to detail. The most common mistakes made by math students are very small and easy to fix.

Comments

kevindai said

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on 1/21/2008 Honestly, power rule is really not that bad.
U-substitution will take some practices. The hardest part of calculus1&2 in my opinion is when you are dealing with some of the application problems. For example, when you try to calculate the amount of water in a sphere, where the radius of the sphere is not constant.
In calculus3, everything just gets 3-dimensional. When you are calculating the volume of a 3-D shape, the math part might not be that hard, but getting the equation set up can be tricky.