Chain rule
In calculus, the chain rule is a formula that expresses the derivative of the composition of two differentiable functions z and y in terms of the derivatives of z and y. More precisely, if h = z ∘ y {\displaystyle h=z\circ y} is the composition such that h ( x ) = z ( y ( x ) ) {\displaystyle h(x)=z(y(x))} for every x, then the chain rule is, in Lagrange's notation, h ′ ( x ) = z ′ ( y ( x ) ) y ′ ( x ) .