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#1 2006-11-14 08:29:58

(name not specified)
Guest

diffrentiating - how to?????????? and y=mx+c?????

how to differentiate???

i know that integrating is to find teh area below a line on a graph. so if it was (2,2) then the integral would be the area directly underneth it (4???).

but wat is differentiating??? i have not beeen taut dis yet. i missed a leson.

also, wat is y=mx+c??? does dis have to do with differentiating??? or is dat the equaton of strait line? i have no idea what it means. and why do we use it????what purpus?

thank in advanse

#2 2006-11-14 08:56:53

MathsIsFun
Administrator
Registered: 2005-01-21
Posts: 7,711

Re: diffrentiating - how to?????????? and y=mx+c?????

Differentiating is more than one lesson!

Think of it as finding the slope of a line. Hopefully you will be taught the details.

y=mx+c is the Equation of a Straight Line


"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

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#3 2006-11-15 01:57:13

Toast
Real Member
Registered: 2006-10-08
Posts: 1,321

Re: diffrentiating - how to?????????? and y=mx+c?????

In a nutshell, differentiation allows you to find the slope of any function.
it is written as

or
or
or

The simplest of the many formulas is:

, then

which works for polynomials without brackets and without division signs.

Say that you want to find the slope at x=4 for y=x²:



So the slope is at x=4 is 2(4) = 8.

If you want to find the slope at x=-8 for y=x²+x-1:



So the slope at x=-8 is
≈ -786431

You'll notice that you can use it for straight line equations too:


Last edited by Toast (2006-11-15 02:27:34)

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#4 2006-11-15 06:19:52

(name not specified)
Guest

Re: diffrentiating - how to?????????? and y=mx+c?????

dear toast and mathsisfun,

what does f(x) mean? what is f?

thank you for all yor help

#5 2006-11-15 07:25:18

(name not specified)
Guest

Re: diffrentiating - how to?????????? and y=mx+c?????

dear mathsisfun,

you have very nise site

my english not good

#6 2006-11-16 04:24:55

(name not specified)
Guest

Re: diffrentiating - how to?????????? and y=mx+c?????

plz . need help soon.

#7 2006-11-16 08:39:31

MathsIsFun
Administrator
Registered: 2005-01-21
Posts: 7,711

Re: diffrentiating - how to?????????? and y=mx+c?????

f is just a name for a function ... you could also write g(x), fred(x) or any name you want. The "x" is the name of the variable that f "takes in" to get its result.

So f(x)=2x just means that "f" takes in "x" and gives back 2 times x.


"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

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