Differentiation is a big thing in fact major chapter for all Secondary 4 ‘O’ level students.
Read all about the basics Differentiation techniques here. (Examples included) I would like to share one question from my A-Math Ultimate Leap Programme (weekly coaching class) which has 2 different approaches to solve it.
Example:
Very often, I notice students will jump into Quotient rule whenever a fraction is given. Just like this student here:
May I suggest that you pause for 3 seconds to think about the approach. Ask yourself ‘Is there anything I can simplify?’
Here’s another student who pauses:
Notice this student spends his time simplifying before applying chain rule in differentiation.
I hope you enjoy this example. Both students are correct in their answers, which one do you prefer more? A or B?




Hi, I'm Ai Ling. I enjoy coaching students who have challenges with understanding and scoring in 'O' Level A-Maths and E-Maths.
I develop Maths strategies, sometimes 'ridiculous' ideas to help students in understanding abstract concepts the fast and memorable way.
I write this blog to share with you the Maths tips and strategies I teach in my class. I hope all these will help you to enjoy Maths and achieve better results.



I wasn’t even aware of the shortcut.
My teacher just taught v differentiate(u) – (u) differentiate(v)divided by v^2
It was a a long process as i still have to take time to factor out. I realised Student B’s method is much shorter, and will ensure better accuracy of the answers. The example really helped a lot ! :)
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There is another way to solve this problem.
I have been leart it in my school.
But when I solved this problem in that way. It was very long and hard.
The example of student A, I think is the best.
I like it.
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