Rate of Change
A rate of change can be formally defined in two ways:
where f(x) is the function with respect to x over the interval from a to a+h. An instantaneous rate of change is equivalent to a derivative.
An example to contrast the differences between the average and instantaneous definitions: the speed of a car can be calculated:
- An average rate can be calculated using the total distance travelled between a and b, divided by the travel time
- An instantaneous rate can be determined by viewing a speedometer.
Read more about this topic: Rate (mathematics)
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