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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 .
Informally, the second derivative can be phrased as "the rate of change of the rate of change"; for example, the second derivative of the position of an object with respect to time is the instantaneous acceleration of the object, or the rate at which the velocity of the object is changing with respect to time.
Snap, [6] or jounce, [2] is the fourth derivative of the position vector with respect to time, or the rate of change of the jerk with respect to time. [4] Equivalently, it is the second derivative of acceleration or the third derivative of velocity, and is defined by any of the following equivalent expressions: = ȷ = = =.
The derivative of a function at a chosen input value describes the rate of change of the function near that input value. The process of finding a derivative is called differentiation . Geometrically, the derivative at a point is the slope of the tangent line to the graph of the function at that point, provided that the derivative exists and is ...
A time derivative is a derivative of a function with respect to time, usually interpreted as the rate of change of the value of the function. [1] The variable denoting time is usually written as t {\displaystyle t} .
In multivariable calculus, the directional derivative measures the rate at which a function changes in a particular direction at a given point. [citation needed]The directional derivative of a multivariable differentiable (scalar) function along a given vector v at a given point x intuitively represents the instantaneous rate of change of the function, moving through x with a direction ...
[5] [6] The difference quotient is a measure of the average rate of change of the function over an interval (in this case, an interval of length h). [7] [8]: 237 [9] The limit of the difference quotient (i.e., the derivative) is thus the instantaneous rate of change. [9]
For this reason, the derivative is sometimes called the slope of the function f. [48]: 61–63 Here is a particular example, the derivative of the squaring function at the input 3. Let f(x) = x 2 be the squaring function. The derivative f′(x) of a curve at a point is the slope of the line tangent to that curve at that point. This slope is ...