- #1
MarcL
- 170
- 2
Hi to all of Physics forums community :),
I'm not sure whether or not I am in the right section. If not, I apologize for my mistake. Also, I am new to Calculus (I am in Cegep --> Quebec schooling system...) and I am taking Calculus 1 single variable. My teacher just started our class by giving us a bunch of formula but really, I don't understand the logic behind it. I found this forum by trying to find an explanation that I would hopefully understand.
First, I asked my teacher about limits and their role. I got a totally evasive answer. I know how to solve certain problems using limits. However, (and I am probably repeating myself) I feel like a robot just solving a problem... I was told that a function can be discontinuous, continuous or does not exist at a certain point. My question for this is, how can it be discontinuous but still exist and how can it just not exist ( I would assume if the denominator is 0?)? Also, what are limits in general?
For Derivatives, when asked, my teacher said to take it as a "game". I honestly do not know what he meant by that ( and I'm not looking to an answer to the statement above). Though, I thought that the derivative was simply the tangent of a function at a certain point. However, isn't the definition lim h-->0f(x+h)-f(x) /h. So, does it only stands for when h approaches 0? and I am sorry for sounding stupid but what does the h stands for..?
I am sorry if my questions are all over the place or you guys don't understand what I am asking. I am just hopelessly trying to understand what I am doing. I find math wonderful when you understand but when you don't... Its just another like trying to understand a language you don't speak.
I'm not sure whether or not I am in the right section. If not, I apologize for my mistake. Also, I am new to Calculus (I am in Cegep --> Quebec schooling system...) and I am taking Calculus 1 single variable. My teacher just started our class by giving us a bunch of formula but really, I don't understand the logic behind it. I found this forum by trying to find an explanation that I would hopefully understand.
First, I asked my teacher about limits and their role. I got a totally evasive answer. I know how to solve certain problems using limits. However, (and I am probably repeating myself) I feel like a robot just solving a problem... I was told that a function can be discontinuous, continuous or does not exist at a certain point. My question for this is, how can it be discontinuous but still exist and how can it just not exist ( I would assume if the denominator is 0?)? Also, what are limits in general?
For Derivatives, when asked, my teacher said to take it as a "game". I honestly do not know what he meant by that ( and I'm not looking to an answer to the statement above). Though, I thought that the derivative was simply the tangent of a function at a certain point. However, isn't the definition lim h-->0f(x+h)-f(x) /h. So, does it only stands for when h approaches 0? and I am sorry for sounding stupid but what does the h stands for..?
I am sorry if my questions are all over the place or you guys don't understand what I am asking. I am just hopelessly trying to understand what I am doing. I find math wonderful when you understand but when you don't... Its just another like trying to understand a language you don't speak.