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Derivative/Formal definition

From AoPSWiki

The derivative of a function is defined as the instantaneous rate of change of the function at a certain point. For a line, this is just the slope. For more complex curves, we can find the rate of change between two points on the curve easily since we can draw a line through them.

Image:derivative1.PNG

In the image above, the average rate of change between the two points is the slope of the line that goes through them: \frac{f(x+h)-f(x)}h.

We can move the second point closer to the first one to find a more accurate value of the derivative. Thus, taking the limit as h goes to 0 will give us the derivative of the function at x:

Image:derivative2.PNG


f'(x) = \lim_{h\to 0}\frac{f(x+h)-f(x)}h.

If this limit exists, it is the derivative of f at x. If it does not exist, we say that f is not differentiable at x.

See also

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