What is the derivative of the square root of x?

The derivative of the square root of x is one-half times one divided by the square root of x. The square root of x is equal to x to the power of one-half.

The derivative of x to the power of n is n times x to the power of n minus one. This can be used for x to the power of one-half. One-half minus one is negative one-half, so the derivative is one-half times x to the power of negative one-half. X to the negative n equals one divided by x to the n, so the derivative is one-half times one divided by x to the power of one-half. Since x to the power of one-half is the square root of x, the final result is one-half times one divided by the square root of x.