Highlights of Calculus
Highlights of Calculus (Res.18-005, MIT OCW). Instructor: Professor Gilbert Strang. Highlights of Calculus is a series of short videos that introduces the basics of calculus - how it works and why it is important. The intended audience is high school students, college students, or anyone who might need help understanding the subject. The series is divided into three sections: 1) Introduction - Why Professor Gilbert Strang created these videos, 2) Highlights of Calculus - Five videos reviewing the key topics and ideas of calculus, Applications to real-life situations and problems, and 3) Derivatives - Twelve videos focused on differential calculus, More applications to real-life situations and problems. (from ocw.mit.edu)
| Lecture 08 - Chains f(g(x)) and the Chain Rule |
A chain of functions starts with y = g(x). Then it finds z = f(y). So z = f(g(x)). Very many functions are built this way, g inside f. So we need their slopes. The Chain Rule says: MULTIPLY THE SLOPES of f and g. Find dy/dx for g(x). Then find dz/dy for f(y). Since dz/dy is found in terms of y, substitute g(x) in place of y. The way to remember the slope of the chain is dz/dx = dz/dy times dy/dx. Remove y to get a function of x. The slope of z = sin (3x) is 3 cos (3x).
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