Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The second derivative of a function f can be used to determine the concavity of the graph of f. [2] A function whose second derivative is positive is said to be concave up (also referred to as convex), meaning that the tangent line near the point where it touches the function will lie below the graph of the function.
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 n {\displaystyle n} th derivative is the derivative of the ( n − 1 ) {\displaystyle (n-1)} th derivative or the derivative of order ...
One way of improving the approximation is to take a quadratic approximation. That is to say, the linearization of a real-valued function f(x) at the point x 0 is a linear polynomial a + b(x − x 0), and it may be possible to get a better approximation by considering a quadratic polynomial a + b(x − x 0) + c(x − x 0) 2.
In calculus, the chain rule is a formula that expresses the derivative of the composition of two differentiable functions f and g in terms of the derivatives of f and g.More precisely, if = is the function such that () = (()) for every x, then the chain rule is, in Lagrange's notation, ′ = ′ (()) ′ (). or, equivalently, ′ = ′ = (′) ′.
If f is a function, then its derivative evaluated at x is written ′ (). It first appeared in print in 1749. [3] Higher derivatives are indicated using additional prime marks, as in ″ for the second derivative and ‴ for the third derivative. The use of repeated prime marks eventually becomes unwieldy.
A number of properties of the differential follow in a straightforward manner from the corresponding properties of the derivative, partial derivative, and total derivative. These include: [ 11 ] Linearity : For constants a and b and differentiable functions f and g , d ( a f + b g ) = a d f + b d g . {\displaystyle d(af+bg)=a\,df+b\,dg.}
In calculus, the product rule (or Leibniz rule [1] or Leibniz product rule) is a formula used to find the derivatives of products of two or more functions.For two functions, it may be stated in Lagrange's notation as () ′ = ′ + ′ or in Leibniz's notation as () = +.
In Leibniz's notation, if x is a variable quantity, then dx denotes an infinitesimal change in the variable x. Thus, if y is a function of x, then the derivative of y with respect to x is often denoted dy/dx, which would otherwise be denoted (in the notation of Newton or Lagrange) ẏ or y ′.