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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 higher order derivatives can be applied in physics; for example, while the first derivative of the position of a moving object with respect to time is the object's velocity, how the position changes as time advances, the second derivative is the object's acceleration, how the velocity changes as time advances.
Even higher derivatives are sometimes also used: the third derivative of position with respect to time is known as the jerk. See motion graphs and derivatives. A large number of fundamental equations in physics involve first or second time derivatives of quantities. Many other fundamental quantities in science are time derivatives of one another:
In SI, this slope or derivative is expressed in the units of meters per second per second (/, usually termed "meters per second-squared"). Since the velocity of the object is the derivative of the position graph, the area under the line in the velocity vs. time graph is the displacement of the object. (Velocity is on the y-axis and time on the ...
derivative of position with respect to time (dx/dt, velocity) has dimension T −1 L—length from position, time due to the gradient; the second derivative (d 2 x/dt 2 = d(dx/dt) / dt, acceleration) has dimension T −2 L. Likewise, taking an integral adds the dimension of the variable one is integrating with respect to, but in the numerator.
In physics, particularly kinematics, jerk is defined as the third derivative of the position function of an object. It is, essentially, the rate at which acceleration changes. In mathematical terms:
The second derivative test can still be used to analyse critical points by considering the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix of second partial derivatives of the function at the critical point. If all of the eigenvalues are positive, then the point is a local minimum; if all are negative, it is a local maximum.
The derivative of the function at a point is the slope of the line tangent to the curve at the point. Slope of the constant function is zero, because the tangent line to the constant function is horizontal and its angle is zero.