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Differentiation and Integration

- Differentiation and integration were independently discovered by Newton and Leibniz as methods for calculating slopes, areas under curves, and other quantities. - The derivative of a function represents its rate of change and can be interpreted geometrically as the slope of the tangent line to a curve at a given point. Finding derivatives is called differentiation. - Integration is the inverse process of differentiation and involves calculating areas under curves. The integral of a function can be interpreted as the distance traveled by an object with a given velocity.

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10 views

Differentiation and Integration

- Differentiation and integration were independently discovered by Newton and Leibniz as methods for calculating slopes, areas under curves, and other quantities. - The derivative of a function represents its rate of change and can be interpreted geometrically as the slope of the tangent line to a curve at a given point. Finding derivatives is called differentiation. - Integration is the inverse process of differentiation and involves calculating areas under curves. The integral of a function can be interpreted as the distance traveled by an object with a given velocity.

Uploaded by

Elyssamae Ponce
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 DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Differentiation and integration

Independently, Newton and Leibniz established simple rules for finding


the formula for the slope of the tangent to a curve at any point on it,
given only a formula for the curve. The rate of change of a function f
(denoted by f′) is known as its derivative. Finding the formula of the
derivative function is called differentiation, and the rules for doing so
form the basis of differential calculus. Depending on the context,
derivatives may be interpreted as slopes of tangent lines, velocities of
moving particles, or other quantities, and therein lies the great power of
the differential calculus.
An important application of differential calculus is graphing a curve
given its equation y = f(x). This involves, in particular, finding local
maximum and minimum points on the graph, as well as changes in
inflection (convex to concave, or vice versa). When examining a
function used in a mathematical model, such geometric notions have
physical interpretations that allow a scientist or engineer to quickly gain
a feeling for the behaviour of a physical system.
The other great discovery of Newton and Leibniz was that finding the
derivatives of functions was, in a precise sense, the inverse of the
problem of finding areas under curves—a principle now known as the
fundamental theorem of calculus. Specifically, Newton discovered that
if there exists a function F(t) that denotes the area under the curve y =
f(x) from, say, 0 to t, then this function’s derivative will equal the
original curve over that interval, F′(t) = f(t). Hence, to find the area
under the curve y = x2 from 0 to t, it is enough to find a function F so
that F′(t) = t2. The differential calculus shows that the most general such
function is x3/3 + C, where C is an arbitrary constant. This is called the
(indefinite) integral of the function y = x2, and it is written as ∫x2dx. The
initial symbol ∫ is an elongated S, which stands for sum, and dx indicates
an infinitely small increment of the variable, or axis, over which the
function is being summed. Leibniz introduced this because he thought of
integration as finding the area under a curve by a summation of the areas
of infinitely many infinitesimally thin rectangles between the x-axis and
the curve. Newton and Leibniz discovered that integrating f(x) is
equivalent to solving a differential equation—i.e., finding a function F(t)
so that F′(t) = f(t). In physical terms, solving this equation can be
interpreted as finding the distance F(t) traveled by an object whose
velocity has a given expression f(t).
The branch of the calculus concerned with calculating integrals is the
integral calculus, and among its many applications are finding work
done by physical systems and calculating pressure behind a dam at a
given depth.

Derivative
derivative, in mathematics, the rate of change of a function with respect
to a variable. Derivatives are fundamental to the solution of problems in
calculus and differential equations. In general, scientists observe
changing systems (dynamical systems) to obtain the rate of change of
some variable of interest, incorporate this information into some
differential equation, and use integration techniques to obtain a function
that can be used to predict the behaviour of the original system under
diverse conditions.
Geometrically, the derivative of a function can be interpreted as the
slope of the graph of the function or, more precisely, as the slope of the
tangent line at a point. Its calculation, in fact, derives from the slope
formula for a straight line, except that a limiting process must be used
for curves. The slope is often expressed as the “rise” over the “run,” or,
in Cartesian terms, the ratio of the change in y to the change in x. For the
straight line shown in the figure, the formula for the slope is (y1 −
y0)/(x1 − x0). Another way to express this formula is [f(x0 + h) −
f(x0)]/h, if h is used for x1 − x0 and f(x) for y. This change in notation is
useful for advancing from the idea of the slope of a line to the more
general concept of the derivative of a function. For a curve, this ratio
depends on where the points are chosen, reflecting the fact that curves
do not have a constant slope. To find the slope at a desired point, the
choice of the second point needed to calculate the ratio represents a
difficulty because, in general, the ratio will represent only an average
slope between the points, rather than the actual slope at either point (see
figure). To get around this difficulty, a limiting process is used whereby
the second point is not fixed but specified by a variable, as h in the ratio
for the straight line above. Finding the limit in this case is a process of
finding a number that the ratio approaches as h approaches 0, so that the
limiting ratio will represent the actual slope at the given point. Some
manipulations must be done on the quotient [f(x0 + h) − f(x0)]/h so that
it can be rewritten in a form in which the limit as h approaches 0 can be
seen more directly. Consider, for example, the parabola given by x2. In
finding the derivative of x2 when x is 2, the quotient is [(2 + h)2 − 22]/h.
By expanding the numerator, the quotient becomes (4 + 4h + h2 − 4)/h =
(4h + h2)/h. Both numerator and denominator still approach 0, but if h is
not actually zero but only very close to it, then h can be divided out,
giving 4 + h, which is easily seen to approach 4 as h approaches 0.
To sum up, the derivative of f(x) at x0, written as f′(x0), (df/dx)(x0), or
Df(x0), is defined as
The definition of the derivative of f(x) at x0.
if this limit exists.
Differentiation—i.e., calculating the derivative—seldom requires the use
of the basic definition but can instead be accomplished through a
knowledge of the three basic derivatives, the use of four rules of
operation, and a knowledge of how to manipulate functions.

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