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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.
One example of an optimization problem is: Find the shortest curve between two points on a surface, assuming that the curve must also lie on the surface. If the surface is a plane, then the shortest curve is a line. But if the surface is, for example, egg-shaped, then the shortest path is not immediately clear.
The formula simplifies: = ′ (). The unit tangent vector determines the orientation of the curve, or the forward direction, corresponding to the increasing values of the parameter. The unit tangent vector taken as a curve traces the spherical image of the original curve.
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.
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 ).
For example, the second-order equation y′′ = −y can be rewritten as two first-order equations: y′ = z and z′ = −y. In this section, we describe numerical methods for IVPs, and remark that boundary value problems (BVPs) require a different set of tools. In a BVP, one defines values, or components of the solution y at more than one ...
Let be a function in the Lebesgue space ([,]).We say that in ([,]) is a weak derivative of if ′ = ()for all infinitely differentiable functions with () = =.. Generalizing to dimensions, if and are in the space () of locally integrable functions for some open set, and if is a multi-index, we say that is the -weak derivative of if
In multivariable calculus, the directional derivative measures the rate at which a function changes in a particular direction at a given point. [citation needed]The directional derivative of a multivariable differentiable (scalar) function along a given vector v at a given point x intuitively represents the instantaneous rate of change of the function, moving through x with a direction ...