Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
It is particularly common when the equation y = f(x) is regarded as a functional relationship between dependent and independent variables y and x. Leibniz's notation makes this relationship explicit by writing the derivative as: [ 1 ] d y d x . {\displaystyle {\frac {dy}{dx}}.}
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 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.
In mathematics, the derivative is a fundamental tool that quantifies the sensitivity to change of a function's output with respect to its input. The derivative of a function of a single variable at a chosen input value, when it exists, is the slope of the tangent line to the graph of the function at that point.
Ordinary differential equations occur in many scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biology, and economics. [1] In addition, some methods in numerical partial differential equations convert the partial differential equation into an ordinary differential equation, which must then be solved.
A total differential equation is a differential equation expressed in terms of total derivatives. Since the exterior derivative is coordinate-free, in a sense that can be given a technical meaning, such equations are intrinsic and geometric.
In nonstandard analysis, a field of mathematics, the increment theorem states the following: Suppose a function y = f(x) is differentiable at x and that Δx is infinitesimal. ...