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Why do i have to learn this stuff?

Calculus is one of the central branches of mathematics and was developed from algebra and geometry. Calculus is built on the concept of limits, which will be discussed in this chapter. Calculus consists of two complementary ideas: differential calculus and integral calculus. We will only be dealing with differential calculus in this text. Differential calculus is concerned with the instantaneous rate of change of quantities with respect to other quantities, or more precisely, the local behaviour of functions. This can be illustrated by the slope of a function's graph. Examples of typical differential calculus problems include: finding the acceleration and velocity of a free-falling body at a particular moment and finding the optimal number of units a company should produce to maximize its profit.

Calculus is fundamentally different from the mathematics that you have studied previously. Calculus is more dynamic and less static. It is concerned with change and motion. It deals with quantities that approach other quantities. For that reason it may be useful to have an overview of the subject before beginning its intensive study.

Calculus is a tool to understand many phenomena, both natural and man-made, like how the wind blows, how water flows, how light travels, how sound travels, how the planets move and even economics.

In this section we give a glimpse of some of the main ideas of calculus by showing how limits arise when we attempt to solve a variety of problems.

Integral calculus

Integral calculus is concerned with the accumulation of quantities, such as areas under a curve, linear distance traveled, or volume displaced. Differential and integral calculus act inversely to each other. Examples of typical integral calculus problems include finding areas and volumes, finding the amount of water pumped by a pump with a set power input but varying conditions of pumping losses and pressure and finding the amount of rain that fell in a certain area if the rain fell at a specific rate.

Interesting fact

Both Isaac Newton (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727) and Gottfried Leibnitz (1 July 1646 – 14 November 1716 (Hanover, Germany)) are credited with the `invention' of calculus. Newton was the first to apply calculus to general physics, while Leibnitz developed most of the notation that is still in use today.

When Newton and Leibniz first published their results, there was some controversy over whether Leibniz's work was independent of Newton's. While Newton derived his results years before Leibniz, it was only some time after Leibniz published in 1684 that Newton published. Later, Newton would claim that Leibniz got the idea from Newton's notes on the subject; however examination of the papers of Leibniz and Newton show they arrived at their results independently, with Leibniz starting first with integration and Newton with differentiation. This controversy between Leibniz and Newton divided English-speaking mathematicians from those in Europe for many years, which slowed the development of mathematical analysis. Today, both Newton and Leibniz are given credit for independently developing calculus. It is Leibniz, however, who is credited with giving the new discipline the name it is known by today: "calculus". Newton's name for it was "the science of fluxions".

Questions & Answers

A golfer on a fairway is 70 m away from the green, which sits below the level of the fairway by 20 m. If the golfer hits the ball at an angle of 40° with an initial speed of 20 m/s, how close to the green does she come?
Aislinn Reply
cm
tijani
what is titration
John Reply
what is physics
Siyaka Reply
A mouse of mass 200 g falls 100 m down a vertical mine shaft and lands at the bottom with a speed of 8.0 m/s. During its fall, how much work is done on the mouse by air resistance
Jude Reply
Can you compute that for me. Ty
Jude
what is the dimension formula of energy?
David Reply
what is viscosity?
David
what is inorganic
emma Reply
what is chemistry
Youesf Reply
what is inorganic
emma
Chemistry is a branch of science that deals with the study of matter,it composition,it structure and the changes it undergoes
Adjei
please, I'm a physics student and I need help in physics
Adjanou
chemistry could also be understood like the sexual attraction/repulsion of the male and female elements. the reaction varies depending on the energy differences of each given gender. + masculine -female.
Pedro
A ball is thrown straight up.it passes a 2.0m high window 7.50 m off the ground on it path up and takes 1.30 s to go past the window.what was the ball initial velocity
Krampah Reply
2. A sled plus passenger with total mass 50 kg is pulled 20 m across the snow (0.20) at constant velocity by a force directed 25° above the horizontal. Calculate (a) the work of the applied force, (b) the work of friction, and (c) the total work.
Sahid Reply
you have been hired as an espert witness in a court case involving an automobile accident. the accident involved car A of mass 1500kg which crashed into stationary car B of mass 1100kg. the driver of car A applied his brakes 15 m before he skidded and crashed into car B. after the collision, car A s
Samuel Reply
can someone explain to me, an ignorant high school student, why the trend of the graph doesn't follow the fact that the higher frequency a sound wave is, the more power it is, hence, making me think the phons output would follow this general trend?
Joseph Reply
Nevermind i just realied that the graph is the phons output for a person with normal hearing and not just the phons output of the sound waves power, I should read the entire thing next time
Joseph
Follow up question, does anyone know where I can find a graph that accuretly depicts the actual relative "power" output of sound over its frequency instead of just humans hearing
Joseph
"Generation of electrical energy from sound energy | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore" ***ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7150687?reload=true
Ryan
what's motion
Maurice Reply
what are the types of wave
Maurice
answer
Magreth
progressive wave
Magreth
hello friend how are you
Muhammad Reply
fine, how about you?
Mohammed
hi
Mujahid
A string is 3.00 m long with a mass of 5.00 g. The string is held taut with a tension of 500.00 N applied to the string. A pulse is sent down the string. How long does it take the pulse to travel the 3.00 m of the string?
yasuo Reply
Who can show me the full solution in this problem?
Reofrir Reply
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Source:  OpenStax, Siyavula textbooks: grade 12 maths. OpenStax CNX. Aug 03, 2011 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11242/1.2
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