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History of Calculus is part of the history of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. The subject, known historically as infinitesimal calculus, constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem of calculus. Calculus is the study of change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape and algebra is the study of operations and their application to solving equations. A course in calculus is a gateway to other, more advanced courses in mathematics devoted to the study of functions and limits, broadly called mathematical analysis. Calculus has widespread applications in science, economics, and engineering and can solve many problems for which algebra alone is insufficient.
Integral calculus is the study of the definitions, properties, and applications of two related concepts, the indefinite integral and the definite integral. The process of finding
the value of an integral is called integration. In technical language, integral calculus studies two related linear operators. The indefinite integral is the antiderivative, the inverse operation to the derivative. F is an indefinite integral of f when f is a derivative of F. (This use of upper- and lower-case letters for a function and its indefinite integral is common in calculus.) The definite integral inputs a function and outputs a number, which gives the area between the graph of the input and the x-axis. The technical definition of the definite integral is the limit of a sum of areas of rectangles, called a Riemann sum. A motivating example is the distances traveled in a given time.
If the speed is constant, only multiplication is needed, but if the speed changes, then we need a more powerful method of finding the distance. One such method is to approximate the distance traveled by breaking up the time into many short intervals of time, then multiplying the time elapsed in each interval by one of the speeds in that interval, and then taking the sum (a Riemann sum) of the approximate distance traveled in each interval. The basic idea is that if only a short time elapses, then the speed will stay more or less the same. However, a Riemann sum only gives an approximation of the distance traveled. We must take the limit of all such Riemann sums to find the exact distance traveled.
Integration can be thought of as measuring the area under a curve, defined by f(x), between two points (here a and b). If f(x) in the diagram on the left represents speed as it varies over time, the distance traveled (between the times represented by a and b) is the area of the shaded region s.
To approximate that area, an intuitive method would be to divide up the distance between a and b into a number of equal segments, the length of each segment represented by the symbol x. For each small segment, we can choose one value of the function f(x). Call that value h. Then the area of the rectangle with base x and height h gives the distance (time x multiplied by speed h) traveled in that segment. Associated with each segment is the average value of the function above it, f(x)=h. The sum of all such rectangles gives an approximation of the area between the axis and the curve, which is an approximation of the total distance traveled. A smaller value for x will give more rectangles and in most cases a better approximation, but for an exact answer we need to take a limit as x approaches zero.
and is read "the integral from a to b of f-of-x with respect to x." The Leibniz notation dx is intended to suggest dividing the area under the curve into an infinite number of rectangles, so that their width x becomes the infinitesimally small dx. In a formulation of the calculus based on limits, the notation
is to be understood as an operator that takes a function as an input and gives a number, the area, as an output; dx is not a number, and is not being multiplied by f(x). The indefinite integral, or antiderivative, is written:
Functions differing by only a constant have the same derivative, and therefore the antiderivative of a given function is actually a family of functions differing only by a constant. Since the derivative of the function y = x + C, where C is any constant, is y = 2x, the antiderivative of the latter is given by:
The graph of a quadratic function is a parabola whose major axis is parallel to the yaxis. The expression ax2 + bx + c in the definition of a quadratic function is a polynomial of degree 2 or second order, or a 2nd degree polynomial, because the highest exponent of x is 2. If the quadratic function is set equal to zero, then the result is a quadratic equation. The solutions to the equation are called the roots of the equation.
Origin of word The adjective quadratic comes from the Latin word quadratum for square. A term like x2 is called a square in algebra because it is the area of a square with side x. In general, a prefix quadr(i)- indicates the number 4. Examples are quadrilateral and quadrant. Quadratum is the Latin word for square because a square has four sides. Roots Further information: Quadratic equation The roots (zeros) of the quadratic function
When the coefficients a, b, and c, are real or complex, the roots are
is called the general form, is called the factored form, where x1 and x2 are the roots of the quadratic equation, it is used in logistic map is called the vertex form and (also the standard form) where h and k are the x and y coordinates of the vertex, respectively.
To convert the general form to factored form, one needs only the quadratic formula to determine the two roots r1 and r2. To convert the general form to standard form, one needs a process called completing the square. To convert the factored form (or standard form) to general form, one needs to multiply, expand and/or distribute the factors. Regardless of the format, the graph of a quadratic function is a parabola (as shown above).
If If
(or is a positive number), the parabola opens upward. (or is a negative number), the parabola opens downward.
The coefficient a controls the speed of increase (or decrease) of the quadratic function from the vertex, bigger positive a makes the function increase faster and the graph appear more closed. The coefficients b and a together control the axis of symmetry of the parabola (also the x-coordinate of the vertex) which is at x = -b/2a. The coefficient b alone is the declivity of the parabola as it crosses the y-axis. The coefficient c controls the height of the parabola, more specifically, it is the point where the parabola crosses the y-axis. xintercepts
Inspection of the factored form shows that the x-intercepts of the graph are given by the roots of the quadratic function. These are simply the x-coordinates for which the function equals zero. Vertex The vertex of a parabola is the place where it turns, hence, it's also called the turning point. If the quadratic function is in vertex form, the vertex is . By the method of completing the square, one can turn the general form
into
that passes through the vertex is also the axis of symmetry of the parabola.
Using calculus, the vertex point, being a maximum or minimum of the function, can be obtained by finding the roots of the derivative:
giving