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Difference quotients may also find relevance in applications involving Time discretization, where the width of the time step is used for the value of h. The difference quotient is sometimes also called the Newton quotient [10] [12] [13] [14] (after Isaac Newton) or Fermat's difference quotient (after Pierre de Fermat). [15]
In an analogous way, one can obtain finite difference approximations to higher order derivatives and differential operators. For example, by using the above central difference formula for f ′(x + h / 2 ) and f ′(x − h / 2 ) and applying a central difference formula for the derivative of f ′ at x, we obtain the central difference approximation of the second derivative of f:
Therefore, the true derivative of f at x is the limit of the value of the difference quotient as the secant lines get closer and closer to being a tangent line: ′ = (+) (). Since immediately substituting 0 for h results in 0 0 {\displaystyle {\frac {0}{0}}} indeterminate form , calculating the derivative directly can be unintuitive.
A common logical fallacy is to use L'Hôpital's rule to prove the value of a derivative by computing the limit of a difference quotient. Since applying l'Hôpital requires knowing the relevant derivatives, this amounts to circular reasoning or begging the question , assuming what is to be proved.
Discrete differential calculus is the study of the definition, properties, and applications of the difference quotient of a function. The process of finding the difference quotient is called differentiation .
Precalculus prepares students for calculus somewhat differently from the way that pre-algebra prepares students for algebra. While pre-algebra often has extensive coverage of basic algebraic concepts, precalculus courses might see only small amounts of calculus concepts, if at all, and often involves covering algebraic topics that might not have been given attention in earlier algebra courses.
Indeterminate form is a mathematical expression that can obtain any value depending on circumstances. In calculus, it is usually possible to compute the limit of the sum, difference, product, quotient or power of two functions by taking the corresponding combination of the separate limits of each respective function.
For differentiable functions, the symmetric difference quotient does provide a better numerical approximation of the derivative than the usual difference quotient. [3] The symmetric derivative at a given point equals the arithmetic mean of the left and right derivatives at that point, if the latter two both exist. [1] [2]: 6
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