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The Derivative As The Slope of The Tangent Line: (At A Point)

The document discusses the derivative and how it represents the slope of the tangent line at a point on a curve. It provides two limit definitions of the derivative as the slope of secant lines getting infinitesimally close to the tangent line. As an example, it calculates the derivative of the function f(x)=x^2 and shows that the slope of the tangent line at x=2 is 4.

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Levi Leuck
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209 views20 pages

The Derivative As The Slope of The Tangent Line: (At A Point)

The document discusses the derivative and how it represents the slope of the tangent line at a point on a curve. It provides two limit definitions of the derivative as the slope of secant lines getting infinitesimally close to the tangent line. As an example, it calculates the derivative of the function f(x)=x^2 and shows that the slope of the tangent line at x=2 is 4.

Uploaded by

Levi Leuck
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The derivative as the slope of the

tangent line

(at a
point)
What is a derivative?

• A function
• the rate of change of a function
• the slope of the line tangent to
the curve
The tangent line

single point
of intersection
slope of a secant line

f(a) - f(x)
a-x

f(x)

f(a)
x a
slope of a (closer) secant line

f(a) - f(x)
a-x

f(x)

f(a)
x x a
closer and closer…

a
watch the slope...
watch what x does...

x a
The slope of the secant line gets closer and closer to
the slope of the tangent line...
As the values of x get closer and closer to a!

x a
The slope of the secant lines
gets closer
to the slope of the tangent line...

...as the values of x


get closer to a

Translates to….
lim f(x) - f(a)
x a x-a
as x goes to a
Equation for the slope

Which gives us the the exact slope


of the line tangent to the curve at a!
similarly...

f(x+h) - f(x)
(x+h) - x

= f(x+h) - f(x)
h

f(a+h)
h

f(a)
a+h a
(For this particular curve, h is a negative value)
thus...

lim f(a+h) - f(a)


h 0
h

AND

lim f(x) - f(a)


x a
x-a

Give us a way to calculate the slope of the line tangent at a!


Which one should I use?

(doesn’t really matter)


A VERY simple example...
y  x2

y  x2

want the slope


where a=2
f ( x)  f (a) x2  a2 ( x  a)( x  a)
lim  lim  lim
xa xa xa

 lim( x  a )  lim( x  2)  4

as x a=2
f ( x  h)  f ( x ) ( x  h) 2  x 2
lim  lim
h h

x  2 xh  h  x
2 2 2
h( 2 x  h)
 lim  lim
h h

 lim(2 x  h)  4

As h 0
back to our example...
y  x2

y  x2

When a=2,
the slope is 4
in conclusion...
• The derivative is the the slope of the line
tangent to the curve (evaluated at a point)
• it is a limit (2 ways to define it)
• once you learn the rules of derivatives, you
WILL forget these limit definitions
• cool site to go to for additional
explanations:http://archives.math.utk.edu/visual.calculus/2/

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