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Solutions to a slope field are functions drawn as solid curves. A slope field shows the slope of a differential equation at certain vertical and horizontal intervals on the x-y plane, and can be used to determine the approximate tangent slope at a point on a curve, where the curve is some solution to the differential equation.
The slope of this line is (+) (). This formula is known as the symmetric difference quotient. In this case the first-order errors cancel, so the slope of these secant lines differ from the slope of the tangent line by an amount that is approximately proportional to .
An ordinary differential equation is a differential equation that relates functions of one variable to their derivatives with respect to that variable. A partial differential equation is a differential equation that relates functions of more than one variable to their partial derivatives. Differential equations arise naturally in the physical ...
Slope illustrated for y = (3/2)x − 1.Click on to enlarge Slope of a line in coordinates system, from f(x) = −12x + 2 to f(x) = 12x + 2. The slope of a line in the plane containing the x and y axes is generally represented by the letter m, [5] and is defined as the change in the y coordinate divided by the corresponding change in the x coordinate, between two distinct points on the line.
The slope of the constant function is 0, because the tangent line to the constant function is horizontal and its angle is 0. In other words, the value of the constant function, y {\textstyle y} , will not change as the value of x {\textstyle x} increases or decreases.
The ratio in the definition of the derivative is the slope of the line through two points on the graph of the function , specifically the points (, ()) and (+, (+)). As h {\displaystyle h} is made smaller, these points grow closer together, and the slope of this line approaches the limiting value, the slope of the tangent to the graph of ...
Isoclines are often used as a graphical method of solving ordinary differential equations. In an equation of the form y' = f(x, y), the isoclines are lines in the (x, y) plane obtained by setting f(x, y) equal to a constant. This gives a series of lines (for different constants) along which the solution curves have the same gradient.
Here, a differential equation can be thought of as a formula by which the slope of the tangent line to the curve can be computed at any point on the curve, once the position of that point has been calculated. The idea is that while the curve is initially unknown, its starting point, which we denote by , is known (see Figure 1). Then, from the ...