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In calculus, the power rule is used to differentiate functions of the form () =, whenever is a real number. Since differentiation is a linear operation on the space of differentiable functions, polynomials can also be differentiated using this rule.
Logarithmic differentiation is a technique which uses logarithms and its differentiation rules to simplify certain expressions before actually applying the derivative. [ citation needed ] Logarithms can be used to remove exponents, convert products into sums, and convert division into subtraction — each of which may lead to a simplified ...
In calculus, the differential represents the principal part of the change in a function = with respect to changes in the independent variable. The differential is defined by = ′ (), where ′ is the derivative of f with respect to , and is an additional real variable (so that is a function of and ).
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.
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 Joseph-Louis Lagrange . [ 22 ] The first derivative is written as f ′ ( x ) {\displaystyle f'(x)} , read as " f {\displaystyle f} prime of x {\displaystyle x} , or y ...
It is particularly common when the equation y = f(x) is regarded as a functional relationship between dependent and independent variables y and x. Leibniz's notation makes this relationship explicit by writing the derivative as: [ 1 ] d y d x . {\displaystyle {\frac {dy}{dx}}.}
The last expression is the second derivative of position (x) with respect to time. On the graph of a function , the second derivative corresponds to the curvature or concavity of the graph. The graph of a function with a positive second derivative is upwardly concave, while the graph of a function with a negative second derivative curves in the ...
The proof of the general Leibniz rule [2]: 68–69 proceeds by induction. Let f {\displaystyle f} and g {\displaystyle g} be n {\displaystyle n} -times differentiable functions. The base case when n = 1 {\displaystyle n=1} claims that: ( f g ) ′ = f ′ g + f g ′ , {\displaystyle (fg)'=f'g+fg',} which is the usual product rule and is known ...