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In physics this theorem is one of the ways of defining a conservative force. By placing φ as potential, ∇ φ is a conservative field . Work done by conservative forces does not depend on the path followed by the object, but only the end points, as the above equation shows.
A parametric C r-curve or a C r-parametrization is a vector-valued function: that is r-times continuously differentiable (that is, the component functions of γ are continuously differentiable), where , {}, and I is a non-empty interval of real numbers.
Calculus is of vital importance in physics: many physical processes are described by equations involving derivatives, called differential equations. Physics is particularly concerned with the way quantities change and develop over time, and the concept of the "time derivative" — the rate of change over time — is essential for the precise ...
In mathematics and physics, Laplace's equation is a second-order partial differential equation named after Pierre-Simon Laplace, who first studied its properties.This is often written as = or =, where = = is the Laplace operator, [note 1] is the divergence operator (also symbolized "div"), is the gradient operator (also symbolized "grad"), and (,,) is a twice-differentiable real-valued function.
Usually, the existence of multiple solutions is not a problem, since functions are considered to be equivalent in the theory of L p spaces and Sobolev spaces if they are equal almost everywhere. The characteristic function of the rational numbers 1 Q {\displaystyle 1_{\mathbb {Q} }} is nowhere differentiable yet has a weak derivative.
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.
Then the same equation = ′ + holds with the same definition of Δy, but instead of ε being infinitesimal, we have = (treating x and f as given so that ε is a function of Δx alone). See also [ edit ]
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 ).