That's just because there are fewer steps for finding a simple derivative. If you evaluate 12326 in your head, most people probably end up thinking through som

That's just because there are fewer steps for finding a simple derivative. If you evaluate 12326 in your head, most people probably end up thinking through something like this 123 * 20 + 123 * 6 123 * 20 123 * 10 * 2 1230 * 2 2460 Now remember this part 123 * 6 100*6 + 20*6 + 3*6 100*6 = 600 20*6 = 120 3*6 = 18 600+120+18 738 2460 + 738 = 3198 Now compare that to taking a simple derivative. Although I could ask you to take the derivative of 123x^26.