https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoFEcmo-Pg
if you watch this 5 times you can probably get to the heart of calculus
and here is a tidbit -
if the line is 'X squared' - then the derivative or slope is '2X'
if the line is 'X to the third power' - then the slope is '3 (X squared)'
if the line is 'X to the 4th' - then the slope is '4 (X to the third)'
if the line is 'X to the 5th' - then the slope is '5 (X to the 4th)'
if the line is 'X to the 6th' - then the slope is '6 (X to the 5th)'
yup - there is a pattern there
the pattern is - bring down the exponent and put it at the front as
the coefficient - and - reduce the exponent by 1
it is as simple as speaking pig latin
the hard part is trying to understand how it works - and this video
gives you a good explanation of that