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Question: Derivative of functions with constants

Question:Derivative of functions with constants

Belisaire 5 Maple 16
derivative
November 18 2015
1

Hi everyone. Please excuse me in advance, as I am new on this website and to Maple.

So I am using Maple 16 and I want it to give me the derivative of a function that has constants in it, for example f(x)=(x-a)(x-b). I wrote the (probably stupid) commands on Maple:

> f(x):=(x-a)(x-b);

> diff(f(x), x);

but the result is not the expected (2x-a-b), but rather (D(x))(x-b)-(D(a))(x-b). What would be the right things to write to get what I need?

 

Thank you in advance,

David
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