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5 views

Unit1 5

Very informative especially for first year introductory calculus students. It explains the content thoroughly and explicitly. It will helo first year students.

Uploaded by

mahlangupaulina4
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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You are on page 1/ 12

WTW 165 Mathematics

Unit 1.5 Rates of change


Textbook, p 18 - 25

Dr. Valisoa Rakotonarivo


Objectives

1. Describe, calculate and interpret the change in a quantity, the


average rate of change of a quantity and the relative change of a
quantity.
2. Visualize the average rate of change of a quantity. When you
visualize something, you must be able to represent it graphically.
3. Calculate velocity / speed if distance is given.

1
Definitions

Let y be a function of t, that is y = f (t).

1. The change in y between t = a and t = b is ∆y = f (b) − f (a).


2. The average rate of change of y between t = a and t = b is

∆y f (b) − f (a)
= .
∆t b−a
The average rate of change is the slope of the secant line between
the points (a, f (a)) and (b, f (b)).
3. The relative change in f as f changes from f (a) to f (b) is

change in f ∆f f (b) − f (a)


= = .
the initial value of f f (a) f (a)

The relative change in f is a number and we interpret the number as


a percentage.

2
Example 1

In this example we show you how to answer a question in this module.


You have to show the formula, the steps, include units with your answer
and in most cases your final answer is a sentence.
Let f (t) = 2t 2 + 1 be the height of a rocket, in meters, t seconds after
lift-off.

1. Find the change in f over the interval [1, 2] and represent it


graphically.
2. Find the average rate of change of f between t = 1 and t = 3, and
represent it graphically.
3. Find the relative change in f as f changes from f (1) to f (3) and
interpret your answer.

3
Example 1: Solution

1. ∆f = f (2) − f (1) = 2 × 22 + 1 − (2 × 12 + 1) = 6.
The change in f between t = 1 and t = 2 is 6 meters.
It is the length of the vertical dotted line in the following graph:

4
Example 1: Solution

∆f f (3)−f (1)
2. ∆t = 3−1 = 8.
The average rate of change of f between t = 1 and t = 3 is 8 meters per
second.
It is the slope of the secant line in the following graph:

5
Example 1: Solution

∆f f (3)−f (1)
3. f (1) = f (1) = 5.333...
The relative change in f as f changes from f (1) to f (3) is 5.333.
The height of the rocket increases by 533.333% over the time interval.

6
Example 2

The amount of quinine in your blood is given by the function

Q = f (t) = 50(0.94)t

with Q in mg and t in hours since taking the medication.


1. Calculate the change in Q between t = 1 and t = 4.

7
Example 2

2. Calculate the average rate of change in Q over the interval [2, 6] and
interpret your answer.

8
Example 2

3. Find the relative change in Q over the interval [2, 6] and interpret your
answer.

9
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