Quote:
I was confused because when they were creating the derivative they integrated functions or something and I didn't know what they were doing. But the books shows a shortcut for calculating the derivative:
F(x) = (x^n) is the original
F(x) = (nx^n-1) is the derivative
Were you all shown this?
Yes. Just remember that it's important to grasp the idea behind derivatives before you learn the easier formulas. That's why they do it that way: so you know why something happens before knowing an easier way to get there. Knowing why is essential to more difficult stuff.