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NCERT Exemplar · Q70

Q.Find dydx\dfrac{dy}{dx}, if y=xtan⁡x+x2+12y = x^{\tan x} + \dfrac{\sqrt{x^2 + 1}}{2}.

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Use logarithmic differentiation for the variable-exponent term xtan⁡xx^{\tan x} and the power rule for the algebraic term x2+12\frac{\sqrt{x^2+1}}{2}. The derivative is dydx=xtan⁡x(sec⁡2xlog⁡x+tan⁡xx)+x2x2+1\frac{dy}{dx} = x^{\tan x}\left(\sec^2 x \log x + \frac{\tan x}{x}\right) + \frac{x}{2\sqrt{x^2+1}}.


The problem asks for dydx\frac{dy}{dx} of a sum of two very different-looking functions: xtan⁡xx^{\tan x} (where both base and exponent are variable) and x2+12\frac{\sqrt{x^2+1}}{2} (a straightforward algebraic expression). The second term is easy; the first needs a special technique.

Why can’t we just use the power rule or the exponential rule directly?

The power rule ddxxn=nxn−1\frac{d}{dx}x^n = n x^{n-1} assumes the exponent is constant. The exponential rule ddxax=axlog⁡a\frac{d}{dx}a^x = a^x \log a assumes the base is constant. Here, both base and exponent depend on xx — so neither rule applies. The standard trick is logarithmic differentiation: take the natural log of both sides, use log properties to bring the exponent down, differentiate implicitly, then solve for the derivative.

Let’s work through it.


  1. Separate the sum. Write y=u+vy = u + v, where

u=xtan⁡x,v=x2+12.u = x^{\tan x}, \quad v = \frac{\sqrt{x^2+1}}{2}.

Then dydx=dudx+dvdx\frac{dy}{dx} = \frac{du}{dx} + \frac{dv}{dx}.

  1. Differentiate vv first (the easy part).

v=12(x2+1)1/2.v = \frac{1}{2}(x^2+1)^{1/2}.

Using the chain rule:

dvdx=12⋅12(x2+1)−1/2⋅2x=x2x2+1.\frac{dv}{dx} = \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{1}{2}(x^2+1)^{-1/2} \cdot 2x = \frac{x}{2\sqrt{x^2+1}}.

Keep this aside.

  1. Now handle u=xtan⁡xu = x^{\tan x} with logarithmic differentiation. Take the natural log of both sides:

log⁡u=log⁡(xtan⁡x)=tan⁡x⋅log⁡x.\log u = \log\left(x^{\tan x}\right) = \tan x \cdot \log x.

This is valid because x>0x > 0 (so log⁡x\log x is defined), which is the domain we assume.

  1. Differentiate implicitly with respect to xx. On the left: ddx(log⁡u)=1u⋅dudx\frac{d}{dx}(\log u) = \frac{1}{u} \cdot \frac{du}{dx}. On the right: ddx(tan⁡x⋅log⁡x)\frac{d}{dx}(\tan x \cdot \log x) — use the product rule.

ddx(tan⁡x)=sec⁡2x,ddx(log⁡x)=1x.\frac{d}{dx}(\tan x) = \sec^2 x, \quad \frac{d}{dx}(\log x) = \frac{1}{x}.

So

1ududx=sec⁡2x⋅log⁡x+tan⁡x⋅1x.\frac{1}{u} \frac{du}{dx} = \sec^2 x \cdot \log x + \tan x \cdot \frac{1}{x}.

  1. Solve for dudx\frac{du}{dx}. Multiply both sides by uu: …

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