In mathematics, the symmetric derivative is an operation related to the ordinary derivative.
It is defined as:
A function is symmetrically differentiable at a point x if its symmetric derivative exists at that point. It can be shown that if a function is differentiable at a point, it is also symmetrically differentiable, but the converse is not true. The best known example is the absolute value function f(x) = |x|, which is not differentiable at x = 0, but is symmetrically differentiable here with symmetric derivative 0. It can also be shown that the symmetric derivative at a point is the mean of the one-sided derivatives at that point, if they both exist.
Read more about Symmetric Derivative: Examples
Famous quotes containing the word derivative:
“When we say “science” we can either mean any manipulation of the inventive and organizing power of the human intellect: or we can mean such an extremely different thing as the religion of science the vulgarized derivative from this pure activity manipulated by a sort of priestcraft into a great religious and political weapon.”
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)