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In numerical analysis, the secant method is a root-finding algorithm that uses a succession of roots of secant lines to better approximate a root of a function f. The secant method can be thought of as a finite-difference approximation of Newton's method. However, the secant method predates Newton's method by over 3000 years.
Secant line. In geometry, a secant is a line that intersects a curve at a minimum of two distinct points. [ 1] The word secant comes from the Latin word secare, meaning to cut. [ 2] In the case of a circle, a secant intersects the circle at exactly two points. A chord is the line segment determined by the two points, that is, the interval on ...
In vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field giving the quantity of the vector field's source at each point. More technically, the divergence represents the volume density of the outward flux of a vector field from an infinitesimal volume around a given point.
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.e. – almost everywhere. AFSOC - Assume for the sake of contradiction. Ai – Airy function. AL – Action limit. Alt – alternating group (Alt ( n) is also written as A n.) A.M. – arithmetic mean. AP – arithmetic progression. arccos – inverse cosine function. arccosec – inverse cosecant function.
The difference between two points, themselves, is known as their Delta (Δ P ), as is the difference in their function result, the particular notation being determined by the direction of formation: Backward difference: ∇F (P) = F (P) − F (P − ΔP). The general preference is the forward orientation, as F (P) is the base, to which ...
A standard method of evaluating the secant integral presented in various references involves multiplying the numerator and denominator by sec θ + tan θ and then using the substitution u = sec θ + tan θ. This substitution can be obtained from the derivatives of secant and tangent added together, which have secant as a common factor.
For functions on the real line, one way to define the limit of a function is in terms of the limit of sequences. (This definition is usually attributed to Eduard Heine .) In this setting: lim x → a f ( x ) = L {\displaystyle \lim _{x\to a}f(x)=L} if, and only if, for all sequences x n (with x n not equal to a for all n ) converging to a the ...