so this was on my calculus homework: differentiate 3 cos x. i know the derivative of cosx is -sinx, but im not sure how to write it with the 3. is it -3sinx or 3-sinx, is there a difference? or am i dong it wrong? thanks!
3 remains, as it is a coefficient. It's -3sinx, since it is a coefficient. If it was 3+cosx, the derivative would be -sinx (constants drop out).
Quote from: Probe on October 04, 2006, 03:18 PM
so this was on my calculus homework: differentiate 3 cos x. i know the derivative of cosx is -sinx, but im not sure how to write it with the 3. is it -3sinx or 3-sinx, is there a difference? or am i dong it wrong? thanks!
Is there a difference between 3 - sin(x) and -3*sin(x)? Of course! Is there no difference between (-3)*sin(x) and (3)*(-sin(x))? Of course!