Chapter Two: The Derivative Flashcards
What is velocity and how is it different from speed?
Velocity is how fast something is moving in a certain direction, so it can be positive or negative. Speed is only zero or positive.
How do you find an object’s average velocity?
Change in position/change in time
What is the instantaneous velocity of an object?
It is the limit that the average velocity/time interval approaches to, or the slope of the curve at a point.
What does the phrase “slope of the curve at point P” mean?
When a function is zoomed in so closely that it looks like the straight line.
What is the difference quotient?
The average rate of change of height in respect to time. [s*(a+h)-s(h)]/h
What is the instantaneous rate of change?
Like instantaneous velocity, average rate of change or the derivative of f at a, f’(a).
How can the derivative at point A be interpreted as?
The slope of the tangent line to the curve at A or the slope of the curve at A.
