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The slope of any line is rise/run, or change in y divided by change in x.
On a distance-time curve, time is the variable on the x axis, and distance is the variable on the y axis. This means that when a tangent is drawn at any point on the curve, its slope becomes change in distance divided by change in time, for example, m/s, km/h, etc. These units align with the units for velocity, and therefore the slope of the tangent line on a distance-time curve is the velocity.
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What physical property does the slope of a velocity time graph represent?
velocity.
What does the slope of the curve on a velocity time graph represent?
The rate of Change in acceleration.
What is instantaneous slope?
The instantaneous slope of a curve is the slope of that curve at a single point. In calculus, this is called the derivative. It also might be called the line tangent to the curve at a point. If you imagine an arbitrary curve (just any curve) with two points on it (point P and point Q), the slope between P and Q is the slope of the line connecting those two points. This is called a secant line. If you keep P where it is and slide Q closer and closer to P along the curve, the secant line will change slope as it gets smaller and smaller. When Q gets extremely close to P (so that there is an infinitesimal space between P and Q), then the slope of the secant line approximates the slope at P. When we take the limit of that tiny distance as it approaches zero (meaning we make the space disappear) we get the slope of the curve at P. This is the instantaneous slope or the derivative of the curve at P. Mathematically, we say that the slope at P = limh→0 [f(x+h) - f(x)]÷h = df/dx, where h is the distance between P and Q, f(x) is the position of P, f(x+h) is the position of Q, and df/dx is the derivative of the curve with respect to x. The formula above is a specific case where the derivative is in terms of x and we're dealing with two dimensions. In physics, the instantaneous slope (derivative) of a position function is velocity, the derivative of velocity is acceleration, and the derivative of acceleration is jerk.
What is a derivative in calculus?
When you take the derivative of a function, you are seeking a variation of that function that provides you with the slope of the tangent (instantaneous slope) at any value of (x). For example, the derivative of the function f(x)=x^2 is f'(x)=2x. Notice that the derivative is denoted by the apostrophe inside the f and (x). Also note that at x=0, f'(x)=0, which means that at x=0 the slope of the tangent is zero, which is correct for the function y=x^2.
How do you find the equation of a tangent line to the graph of fx equals x cubed and x equals -2?
Calculate the derivative of the function.Use the derivative to calculate the slope at the specified point.Calculate the y-coordinate for the point.Use the formula for a line that has a specified slope and passes through a specified point.
