Derivative
Derivative
Derivative
Derivative
(Redirected from Instantaneous rate of change)
The derivative is a fundamental tool of calculus that quantifies the sensitivity of change of a
function's output with respect to its input. The derivative of a function of a single variable at a chosen
input value, when it exists, is the slope of the tangent line to the graph of the function at that point.
The tangent line is the best linear approximation of the function near that input value. For this reason,
the derivative is often described as the instantaneous rate of change, the ratio of the
instantaneous change in the dependent variable to that of the independent variable.[1] The process of
finding a derivative is called differentiation.
There are multiple different notations for differentiation, two of the most commonly used being
Leibniz notation and prime notation. Leibniz notation, named after Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, is
represented as the ratio of two differentials, whereas prime notation is written by adding a prime
mark. Higher order notations represent repeated differentiation, and they are usually denoted in
Leibniz notation by adding superscripts to the differentials, and in prime notation by adding
additional prime marks. The higher order derivatives can be applied in physics; for example, while the
first derivative of the position of a moving object with respect to time is the object's velocity, how the
position changes as time advances, the second derivative is the object's acceleration, how the velocity
changes as time advances.
Derivatives can be generalized to functions of several real variables. In this generalization, the
derivative is reinterpreted as a linear transformation whose graph is (after an appropriate translation)
the best linear approximation to the graph of the original function. The Jacobian matrix is the matrix
that represents this linear transformation with respect to the basis given by the choice of independent
and dependent variables. It can be calculated in terms of the partial derivatives with respect to the
independent variables. For a real-valued function of several variables, the Jacobian matrix reduces to
the gradient vector.
Definition
As a limit
A function of a real variable is differentiable at a point of its domain, if its domain contains an
open interval containing , and the limit
exists.[2] This means that, for every positive real number (even very small), there exists a positive
real number such that, for every such that and then is defined, and
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where the vertical bars denote the absolute value. This is an example of the (ε, δ)-definition of limit.[3]
If the function is differentiable at , that is if the limit exists, then this limit is called the
derivative of at . Multiple notations for the derivative exist.[4] The derivative of at can be
denoted , read as " prime of "; or it can be denoted , read as "the derivative of with
respect to at " or " by (or over) at ". See § Notation below. If is a function that has a
derivative at every point in its domain, then a function can be defined by mapping every point to the
value of the derivative of at . This function is written and is called the derivative function or the
derivative of . The function sometimes has a derivative at most, but not all, points of its domain.
The function whose value at equals whenever is defined and elsewhere is undefined is
also called the derivative of . It is still a function, but its domain may be smaller than the domain of
.[5]
For example, let be the squaring function: . Then the quotient in the definition of the
derivative is[6]
The division in the last step is valid as long as . The closer is to , the closer this expression
becomes to the value . The limit exists, and for every input the limit is . So, the derivative of the
squaring function is the doubling function: .
Using infinitesimals
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One way to think of the derivative is as the ratio of an infinitesimal change in the output of the
function to an infinitesimal change in its input.[8] In order to make this intuition rigorous, a system
of rules for manipulating infinitesimal quantities is required.[9] The system of hyperreal numbers is a
way of treating infinite and infinitesimal quantities. The hyperreals are an extension of the real
numbers that contain numbers greater than anything of the form for any finite
number of terms. Such numbers are infinite, and their reciprocals are infinitesimals. The application
of hyperreal numbers to the foundations of calculus is called nonstandard analysis. This provides a
way to define the basic concepts of calculus such as the derivative and integral in terms of
infinitesimals, thereby giving a precise meaning to the in the Leibniz notation. Thus, the derivative
of becomes
for an arbitrary infinitesimal , where denotes the standard part function, which "rounds off" each
finite hyperreal to the nearest real.[10] Taking the squaring function as an example again,
positive, then is on the high part of the step, so the secant line from to has slope zero.
Consequently, the secant lines do not approach any single slope, so the limit of the difference quotient
does not exist. However, even if a function is continuous at a point, it may not be differentiable there.
For example, the absolute value function given by is continuous at , but it is not
differentiable there. If is positive, then the slope of the secant line from 0 to is one; if is negative,
then the slope of the secant line from to is .[12] This can be seen graphically as a "kink" or a
"cusp" in the graph at . Even a function with a smooth graph is not differentiable at a point
where its tangent is vertical: For instance, the function given by is not differentiable at
. In summary, a function that has a derivative is continuous, but there are continuous functions
that do not have a derivative.[11]
Most functions that occur in practice have derivatives at all points or almost every point. Early in the
history of calculus, many mathematicians assumed that a continuous function was differentiable at
most points.[13] Under mild conditions (for example, if the function is a monotone or a Lipschitz
function), this is true. However, in 1872, Weierstrass found the first example of a function that is
continuous everywhere but differentiable nowhere. This example is now known as the Weierstrass
function.[14] In 1931, Stefan Banach proved that the set of functions that have a derivative at some
point is a meager set in the space of all continuous functions. Informally, this means that hardly any
random continuous functions have a derivative at even one point.[15]
Notation
One common symbol for the derivative of a function is Leibniz notation. They are written as the
quotient of two differentials and ,[16] which were introduced by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in
1675.[17] It is still commonly used when the equation is viewed as a functional relationship
between dependent and independent variables. The first derivative is denoted by , read as "the
derivative of with respect to ".[18] This derivative can alternately be treated as the application of a
differential operator to a function, Higher derivatives are expressed using the notation
for the -th derivative of . These are abbreviations for multiple applications of the
[19]
derivative operator; for example, Unlike some alternatives, Leibniz notation
involves explicit specification of the variable for differentiation, in the denominator, which removes
ambiguity when working with multiple interrelated quantities. The derivative of a composed function
can be expressed using the chain rule: if and then [20]
Another common notation for differentiation is by using the prime mark in the symbol of a function
. This is known as prime notation, due to the Joseph-Louis Lagrange.[21] The first derivative is
written as , read as " prime of ", or , read as " prime".[22] Similarly, the second and the
third derivatives can be written as and , respectively.[23] For denoting the number of higher
derivatives beyond this point, some authors use Roman numerals in superscript, whereas others place
the number in parentheses, such as or [24] The latter notation generalizes to yield the notation
for the -th derivative of .[19]
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In Newton's notation or the dot notation, a dot is placed over a symbol to represent a time derivative.
If is a function of , then the first and second derivatives can be written as and , respectively. This
notation is used exclusively for derivatives with respect to time or arc length. It is typically used in
differential equations in physics and differential geometry.[25] However, the dot notation becomes
unmanageable for high-order derivatives (of order 4 or more) and cannot deal with multiple
independent variables.
Another notation is D-notation, which represents the differential operator by the symbol [19] The
first derivative is written and higher derivatives are written with a superscript, so the -th
derivative is This notation is sometimes called Euler notation, although it seems that
Leonhard Euler did not use it, and the notation was introduced by Louis François Antoine
Arbogast.[26] To indicate a partial derivative, the variable differentiated by is indicated with a
subscript, for example given the function its partial derivative with respect to can be
written or Higher partial derivatives can be indicated by superscripts or multiple
subscripts, e.g. and .[27]
Rules of computation
In principle, the derivative of a function can be computed from the definition by considering the
difference quotient and computing its limit. Once the derivatives of a few simple functions are known,
the derivatives of other functions are more easily computed using rules for obtaining derivatives of
more complicated functions from simpler ones. This process of finding a derivative is known as
differentiation.[28]
Derivatives of powers:
, for
, for
, for
Trigonometric functions:
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, for
, for
Sum rule:
Product rule:
for all functions and . As a special case, this rule includes the fact
whenever is a constant because by the constant rule.
Quotient rule:
Computation example
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Here the second term was computed using the chain rule and the third term using the product rule.
The known derivatives of the elementary functions , , , , and , as well as
the constant , were also used.
Higher-order derivatives
Higher order derivatives means that a function is differentiated repeatedly. Given that is a
differentiable function, the derivative of is the first derivative, denoted as . The derivative of is
the second derivative, denoted as , and the derivative of is the third derivative, denoted as .
By continuing this process, if it exists, the -th derivative as the derivative of the -th derivative
or the derivative of order . As has been discussed above, the generalization of derivative of a
function may be denoted as .[31] A function that has successive derivatives is called times
differentiable. If the -th derivative is continuous, then the function is said to be of differentiability
class .[32] A function that has infinitely many derivatives is called infinitely differentiable or
smooth.[33] One example of the infinitely differentiable function is polynomial; differentiate this
function repeatedly results the constant function, and the infinitely subsequent derivative of that
function are all zero.[34]
In one of its applications, the higher-order derivatives may have specific interpretations in physics.
Suppose that a function represents the position of an object at the time. The first derivative of that
function is the velocity of an object with respect to time, the second derivative of the function is the
acceleration of an object with respect to time,[28] and the third derivative is the jerk.[35]
In other dimensions
Vector-valued functions
A vector-valued function of a real variable sends real numbers to vectors in some vector space .A
vector-valued function can be split up into its coordinate functions , meaning
that . This includes, for example, parametric curves in or . The
coordinate functions are real-valued functions, so the above definition of derivative applies to them.
The derivative of is defined to be the vector, called the tangent vector, whose coordinates are the
derivatives of the coordinate functions. That is,[36]
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if the limit exists. The subtraction in the numerator is the subtraction of vectors, not scalars. If the
derivative of exists for every value of , then is another vector-valued function.[36]
Partial derivatives
Functions can depend upon more than one variable. A partial derivative of a function of several
variables is its derivative with respect to one of those variables, with the others held constant. Partial
derivatives are used in vector calculus and differential geometry. As with ordinary derivatives,
multiple notations exist: the partial derivative of a function with respect to the variable
is variously denoted by
, , , , or ,
among other possibilities.[37] It can be thought of as the rate of change of the function in the -
direction.[38] Here ∂ is a rounded d called the partial derivative symbol. To distinguish it from the
letter d, ∂ is sometimes pronounced "der", "del", or "partial" instead of "dee".[39] For example, let
, then the partial derivative of function with respect to both variables and
are, respectively:
This is fundamental for the study of the functions of several real variables. Let be such
a real-valued function. If all partial derivatives with respect to are defined at the point
, these partial derivatives define the vector
which is called the gradient of at . If is differentiable at every point in some domain, then the
gradient is a vector-valued function that maps the point to the vector
. Consequently, the gradient determines a vector field.[41]
Directional derivatives
If is a real-valued function on , then the partial derivatives of measure its variation in the
direction of the coordinate axes. For example, if is a function of and , then its partial derivatives
measure the variation in in the and direction. However, they do not directly measure the
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variation of in any other direction, such as along the diagonal line . These are measured using
directional derivatives. Choose a vector , then the directional derivative of in the
direction of at the point is:[42]
If all the partial derivatives of exist and are continuous at , then they determine the directional
derivative of in the direction by the formula:[43]
Similarly with the single-variable derivative, is chosen so that the error in this approximation is
as small as possible. The total derivative of at is the unique linear transformation
such that[44]
Here is a vector in , so the norm in the denominator is the standard length on . However,
is a vector in , and the norm in the numerator is the standard length on .[44] If is a
vector starting at , then is called the pushforward of by .[45]
If the total derivative exists at , then all the partial derivatives and directional derivatives of exist at
, and for all , is the directional derivative of in the direction . If is written using
coordinate functions, so that , then the total derivative can be expressed using
the partial derivatives as a matrix. This matrix is called the Jacobian matrix of at :[46]
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Generalizations
The concept of a derivative can be extended to many other settings. The common thread is that the
derivative of a function at a point serves as a linear approximation of the function at that point.
See also
Integral
Notes
1. Stewart 2002, p. 129–130.
2. Stewart 2002, p. 127; Strang et al. 2023, p. 220 (https://openstax.org/books/calculus-volume-1/pa
ges/3-1-defining-the-derivative).
3. Gonick 2012, p. 83.
4. Gonick 2012, p. 88; Strang et al. 2023, p. 234 (https://openstax.org/books/calculus-volume-1/page
s/3-2-the-derivative-as-a-function).
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External links
"Derivative" (https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Derivative), Encyclopedia of
Mathematics, EMS Press, 2001 [1994]
Khan Academy: "Newton, Leibniz, and Usain Bolt" (https://www.khanacademy.org/math/differential
-calculus/taking-derivatives/intro_differential_calc/v/newton-leibniz-and-usain-bolt)
Weisstein, Eric W. "Derivative" (https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Derivative.html). MathWorld.
Online Derivative Calculator (http://www.wolframalpha.com/calculators/derivative-calculator/) from
Wolfram Alpha.
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