Help me : Im an idiot. (1 Viewer)

[absolution*]

what does d/dx mean?

For eg. d/dx (xsin^2.x)

 

[kpq_sniper017]

d/dx pretty much means "find the derivative of..."

e.g. instead of writing:

y=x^2
.'. dy/dx = 2x

you can just write:
d/dx x^2 = 2x

it's just faster.

 

[Grey Council]

yup, and you hafta know if for questions. ehhe

 

[~*HSC 4 life*~]

different notation's for differentiation include

dy/dx
d/dx
y'

when you write something using d/dx notation be sure to put the differential eq. in brackets

eg
d/dx(x^2)
d/dx(x^3+5x+3)

 

[elizabethy]

d/dx means "derivative of"

 

[:: ck ::]

mm are u in gr11?

 

[CM_Tutor]

It's only a minor pont, but d/dx actually means "derivative with respect to x of" - it's a good idea to keep in mind with respect to which variable you are differentiating.

 

[perfectionist]

d/dx is the slope of a curve.

 

[kpq_sniper017]

Originally posted by CM_Tutor
It's only a minor pont, but d/dx actually means "derivative with respect to x of" - it's a good idea to keep in mind with respect to which variable you are differentiating.

Just on that....I guess that pretty much means that something like:

d/dx (y^2) doesn't make sense then does it??

you'd actually have to put:

d/dy (y^2)=

???

 

[CM_Tutor]

Actually, interpretation of d/dx(y²) depends on what y is. If y is a constant, then nike33 is correct, and it's 0. If y is a function of x, then the chain rule dictates that d/dx(y²) = d/dy(y²) * dy/dx = 2y * dy/dx - note that this is an Extn 2 level interpretation. If y is some other case... well, let's just not go there.