How do you find the derivative of ln(sin^2x)?

1 Answer
Nov 10, 2015

(2 cos x) / sin x

Explanation:

Use the chain rule.

You can break down your function into the logarithm, the square and the sinus function like follows:

f(u) = ln(u)
u(v) = v^2(x)
v(x) = sin(x)

Now, you need to compute the three derivatives of those three functions (and afterwards plug the respective values of u and v):

f'(u) = 1/ u = 1 / v^2 = 1 / sin^2 x
u'(v) = 2v = 2 sin x
v'(x) = cos(x)

Now, the only thing left to do is multiplying those three derivatives:

f'(x) = f'(u) * u'(v) * v'(x) = 1 / sin^2 x * 2 sin x * cos x
= (2 cos x) / sin x

Hope that this helped!