Differential Calculus Quiz

Differential Calculus: A Subfield of Calculus

Differential calculus studies the rates at which quantities change and is a subfield of calculus.
The primary objects of study in differential calculus are the derivative of a function, related notions such as the differential, and their applications.
The process of finding a derivative is called differentiation and the derivative of a function at a chosen input value describes the rate of change of the function near that input value.
Geometrically, the derivative at a point is the slope of the tangent line to the graph of the function at that point, provided that the derivative exists and is defined at that point.
Differential calculus and integral calculus are connected by the fundamental theorem of calculus, which states that differentiation is the reverse process to integration.
Differentiation has applications in nearly all quantitative disciplines, such as physics, operations research, and chemical reactions.
Derivatives are frequently used to find the maxima and minima of a function, and equations involving derivatives are called differential equations and are fundamental in describing natural phenomena.
Derivatives and their generalizations appear in many fields of mathematics, such as complex analysis, functional analysis, differential geometry, measure theory, and abstract algebra.
The derivative of a function at a point is the slope of the tangent to the function at that point, and the slope of a linear equation can be found by picking any two points and dividing the change in y by the change in x.
The slope of a curve at a particular point is equal to the slope of the tangent to that point, and the derivative of a function is simply the slope of the tangent line.
Even though the tangent line only touches a single point at the point of tangency, it can be approximated by a line that goes through two points, known as a secant line.
The slope of a secant line can be calculated directly and is very similar to the slope of the tangent line if the two points that the secant line goes through are close together.
The derivative of a function is the limit of the slope of the secant line as the two points get closer and closer together.Understanding Derivatives
The slope of a line is defined as Δy/Δx.
As Δx approaches 0, the slope of the secant line approaches the slope of the tangent line.
The derivative of a function f(x) can be denoted as f'(x) or dy/dx, where d represents an infinitesimal change.
The limit of the slope of the secant line as Δx approaches 0 is equal to the derivative of f(x), provided it exists.
Differentiation from first principles is a way to find the derivative of a function.
The derivative of y = x^2 is 2x.
The power rule states that the derivative of ax^n is anx^(n-1), where a and n are constants.
The derivative of 5x^4 is 20x^3.
The chain rule is used to find the derivative of composite functions.
The product rule is used to find the derivative of the product of two functions.
The quotient rule is used to find the derivative of the quotient of two functions.
The derivative of trigonometric functions can be found using differentiation from first principles and the chain rule.Introduction to Differentiation
The derivative of a function is a measure of how that function is changing at any given point.
The derivative of a polynomial function can be found easily using the power rule, which states that the derivative of x^n is nx^(n-1).
Other functions require more advanced techniques to find their derivatives, such as the chain rule, product rule, and quotient rule.
Differentiability is a related concept to the derivative, and refers to whether or not a function can be differentiated at a given point.
The concept of a derivative in the sense of a tangent line is an old one, familiar to ancient Greek mathematicians such as Euclid, Archimedes, and Apollonius of Perga.
The modern development of calculus is usually credited to Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.
Calculus is of vital importance in physics, as many physical processes are described by equations involving derivatives, called differential equations.
The mean value theorem gives a relationship between values of the derivative and values of the original function.
Taylor polynomials and series provide an approximation of a function at a given point.
The implicit function theorem converts relations such as f(x, y) = 0 into functions.
Optimization is a key application of differentiation, allowing us to find local minima and maxima.
Differential equations arise naturally in the physical sciences, in mathematical modelling, and within mathematics itself.