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Differentials and Linear Approximation

This document discusses linear approximation and differentials. It provides an example of using differentials to find the approximate value of (64.1)1/3. Using differentials, it derives the differential dx as 0.1 and dy as 1/48 dx. It then uses this to approximate (64.1)1/3 as 4 + 1/48 * 0.1 = 4.002. The document also shows this approximation is the same as using the basic linear approximation formula, f(x) ≈ f(a) + f'(a)(x - a).

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Vinayak Jha
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24 views

Differentials and Linear Approximation

This document discusses linear approximation and differentials. It provides an example of using differentials to find the approximate value of (64.1)1/3. Using differentials, it derives the differential dx as 0.1 and dy as 1/48 dx. It then uses this to approximate (64.1)1/3 as 4 + 1/48 * 0.1 = 4.002. The document also shows this approximation is the same as using the basic linear approximation formula, f(x) ≈ f(a) + f'(a)(x - a).

Uploaded by

Vinayak Jha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Differentials and Linear Approximation

Linear approximation allows us to estimate the value of f (x + Δx) based on the


values of f (x) and f ' (x). We replace the change in horizontal position Δx by
the differential dx. Similarly, we replace the change in height Δy by dy. (See
Figure 1.)

dy

x x + dx

Figure 1: We use dx and dy in place of Δx and Δy.


1

Example: Find the approximate value of (64.1) 3


.

Method 1 (using differentials)


1

We’re going to use a linear approximation of the function y = f (x) = x


3
. Our
1

base point will be x0 = 64 because it’s easy to compute y0 = 64


3
= 4. By
2

definition, dy = f ' (x)dx = 13


x
− 3
dx.

1 2

dy = (64)− 3
dx
3

1 1

= dx
3 16

= dx
48

1
1

We want to approximate (64.1) 3


, so x + dx = 64.1 and dx = 0.1 = 10 . At
the value 64.1 = x0 + dx, f (x) is exactly equal to y0 + Δy (because this is how
we defined Δy) and is approximately equal to y0 + dy, where dy is is linear in
dx as derived above.
In essence, the point (x0 + dx, y0 + dy) is an infinitesimally small step away
1

from (x0 , y0 ) along the tangent line. Of course 10


is not infinitesimally small,
which is why this is an approximation rather than an exact value.
1

(64.1) 3
≈ y + dy

1
≈ 4+ dx
48
1 1
≈ 4+
48 10
≈ 4.002

Method 2 (review)
When we compare this to our previous notation we discover that the calculations
are the same; only the notation has changed.
The basic formula for linear approximation is:

f (x) = f (a) + f ' (a)(x − a)


1 2
Here a = 64 and f (x) = x 3 , so f (a) = f (64) = 4 and f ' (a) = 13 a− 3 = 1
48
Our approximation then becomes:

f (x) ≈ f (a) + f ' (a)(x − a)

1 1
x3 ≈ 4 + (x − 64)
48
1 1 1
(64.1) 3 ≈ 4+
48 10
1
(64.1) 3 ≈ 4.002

We get the same answer as before, by doing a nearly identical calculation.

2
MIT OpenCourseWare
http://ocw.mit.edu

18.01SC Single Variable Calculus


Fall 2010

For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.

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