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Derivative of \( \displaystyle \frac{\ln{\left(\cot{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} + \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} \right)}}{3} \)

Problem 2.223 · hard

Differentiate \( \displaystyle f(x) = \frac{\ln{\left(\cot{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} + \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} \right)}}{3} \).
  1. \[ \frac{d}{d x} \frac{\ln{\left(\cot{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} + \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} \right)}}{3} \]
    constant-multiplePull out the constant factor 1/3.✓ Proved
  2. \[ = \frac{\frac{d}{d x} \ln{\left(\cot{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} + \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} \right)}}{3} \]
    chainApply the chain rule to the logarithm.✓ Proved
  3. \[ = \frac{\frac{d}{d x} \left(\cot{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} + \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)}\right)}{3 \left(\cot{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} + \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)}\right)} \]
    sumDifferentiate the sum inside the parentheses.✓ Proved
  4. \[ = \frac{\frac{d}{d x} \cot{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} + \frac{d}{d x} \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)}}{3 \left(\cot{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} + \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)}\right)} \]
    chainApply the chain rule to each trigonometric term.✓ Proved
  5. \[ = \frac{- 3 \cot{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} - 3 \csc^{2}{\left(3 x + 1 \right)}}{3 \left(\cot{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} + \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)}\right)} \]
    trigDifferentiate the cotangent and cosecant functions.✓ Proved
  6. \[ = \frac{- \cot{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} - \csc^{2}{\left(3 x + 1 \right)}}{\cot{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} + \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)}} \]
    algebra simplifyFactor out the common constant 3. Cancel the 3 and the 1/3.✓ Proved
  7. \[ = - \csc{\left(3 x + 1 \right)} \]
    algebra simplifyFactor out -csc(3*x + 1) from the numerator. Simplify the fraction.✓ Proved
Answer \( - \frac{1}{\sin{\left(3 x + 1 \right)}} \)
Mind the domain. The answer is also defined at points where f(x) is not. Substituting there gives a number that is not a slope of f.

✓ Nihil obstat Every line of this solution was proved by the computer algebra system SymPy. The answer was also checked a second way, without looking at the solution. Reviewers found nothing wrong with the explanation.

The full receipt
LineStatusChecked byDetail
1✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0line 1 is the problem as stated
2✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(a - b) reduced to 0
log is undefined for non-positive arguments
csc has poles at multiples of pi
cot has poles at multiples of pi
3✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(a - b) reduced to 0
log is undefined for non-positive arguments
csc has poles at multiples of pi
cot has poles at multiples of pi
undefined where cot(3*x + 1) + csc(3*x + 1) = 0
4✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(a - b) reduced to 0
csc has poles at multiples of pi
cot has poles at multiples of pi
undefined where cot(3*x + 1) + csc(3*x + 1) = 0
5✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(a - b) reduced to 0
csc has poles at multiples of pi
cot has poles at multiples of pi
undefined where cot(3*x + 1) + csc(3*x + 1) = 0
6✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(a - b) reduced to 0
csc has poles at multiples of pi
cot has poles at multiples of pi
undefined where cot(3*x + 1) + csc(3*x + 1) = 0
7✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(a - b) reduced to 0
csc has poles at multiples of pi
cot has poles at multiples of pi
undefined where cot(3*x + 1) + csc(3*x + 1) = 0
8✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(a - b) reduced to 0
csc has poles at multiples of pi
cot has poles at multiples of pi
undefined where cot(3*x + 1) + csc(3*x + 1) = 0
9✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(a - b) reduced to 0
csc has poles at multiples of pi
answer✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0final line against the stated answer: simplify(a - b) reduced to 0
undefined where sin(3*x + 1) = 0
answer, a second way✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0SymPy differentiated f directly and got the stated answer

Reviewers

  • gpt-oss:20b: fail (style) — Step 4 applies both the chain rule (to each trigonometric term) and the sum rule (to combine the derivatives) in a single step, violating the one‑rule‑per‑step requirement.
  • deepseek-r1:70b: pass
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass
Every verdict on record (12)
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-09-20
  • gpt-oss:20b: fail (style) 2026-09-20 — Step 4 applies both the chain rule (to each trigonometric term) and the sum rule (to combine the derivatives) in a single step, violating the one‑rule‑per‑step requirement.
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-09-20
  • gpt-oss:20b: fail (style) 2026-09-20 — Step 3 incorrectly labels the application of the chain rule for the logarithm as "sum"; step 4 incorrectly labels the sum rule as "chain". These mislabelings violate the rule‑granularity requirement.
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-09-19
  • deepseek-r1:70b: pass 2026-09-19
  • gpt-oss:20b: fail (style) 2026-09-19 — Step 3 incorrectly labels the application of the chain rule as "sum"; Step 4 incorrectly labels the application of the sum rule as "chain". These mislabelings violate the rule‑granularity requirement.
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-09-18
  • deepseek-r1:70b: pass 2026-09-18
  • gpt-oss:20b: fail (style) 2026-09-18 — Step 3 incorrectly labels the chain rule as a sum; Step 4 incorrectly labels the sum rule as a chain rule. Both steps apply only one rule, but the labels do not match the rule actually used.
  • gpt-oss:20b: fail 2026-09-17 — Step 3 incorrectly labels the rule; it applies both the chain rule for the logarithm and the sum rule for the inner function, but the rule label says "sum" only, which misleads the student.
  • deepseek-r1:70b: pass 2026-09-17

Proved: SymPy reduced the difference between the two sides to zero. Checked independently: a separate method, named above, confirmed it. Checked numerically: the two sides agree at every sampled point, which is evidence, not proof. Reviewed: a model or a person read it; that is all a sentence can have. Solution by gemma4:26b, checked 2026-09-26 with SymPy 1.14.0.