Differentiation

Hello,

Could you please tell me what the first derivative is of the following:

y = 2/(2x+e^2x)

Is it (1+xe^2x)/(2x+e^2x)² or perhaps -4(1+e^2x)/(2x+e^2x)² ? I am a little confused between the two!

Thanks so much for your help.

Esther

Hi Esther,

Rather than use the quotient rule I would write

y = 2(2x + e^2x)^-1 and differentiate using the chain rule. Thus

and hence

Cheers,
Harley Go to Math Central