What is the derivative of y=xln(x)+7x?

1 Answer
Jan 26, 2015

First of all, let's observe that the derivative of a sum is the sum of the derivatives. So,
d/dx (x\ln(x) + 7x) = d/dx x\ln(x) + d/dx 7x

The easy part is calculating that d/dx 7x = 7 d/dx x: for the power rule d/dx x^n=nx^{n-1}, applied with n=1, one has that d/dx x = 1, and so d/dx 7x=7.

As for x\ln(x), we apply the product rule, which says that (fg)'=f'g+fg'. In your case, f(x)=x and g(x)=\ln(x). We have that f'(x)=1 and g'(x)=1/x. So, d/dx x\ln(x) = 1\cdot \ln(x) + x \cdot 1/x

Finally, the answer is
d/dx (x\ln(x) + 7x) = \ln(x)+1+7=\ln(x)+8