# Tag Archives | chain rule

## Calculus in Action: Neural Networks

An artificial neural network is a computational model that approximates a mapping between inputs and outputs.  It is inspired by the structure of the human brain, in that it is similarly composed of a network of interconnected neurons that propagate information upon receiving sets of stimuli from neighbouring neurons. Training a neural network involves a […]

## The Chain Rule of Calculus – Even More Functions

The chain rule is an important derivative rule that allows us to work with composite functions. It is essential in understanding the workings of the backpropagation algorithm, which applies the chain rule extensively in order to calculate the error gradient of the loss function with respect to each weight of a neural network. We will […]

## The Chain Rule of Calculus for Univariate and Multivariate Functions

The chain rule allows us to find the derivative of composite functions. It is computed extensively by the backpropagation algorithm, in order to train feedforward neural networks. By applying the chain rule in an efficient manner while following a specific order of operations, the backpropagation algorithm calculates the error gradient of the loss function with […]