adjurovich said:
Would it be accurate if I interpreted derivatives this way:
The rate of change of linear functions tells us how many times y changes if we increase x by 1.
Yes. But linear functions have a constant rate of change, its steepness. If we have a non-linear function, then its rate of change is a local approximation by a linear function, the tangent. We then consider the steepness of the function at that point as the steepness of that tangent.
adjurovich said:
So: ##y = mx + b##
Where m is the initial value and we will set it to zero:
##y = mx##
I'd rather say that ##y(0)=b## is the initial value, and ##m## is the constant steepness, the slope.
adjurovich said:
So solving for m we get:
##m = \dfrac{y}{x}##
So in this case derivative (the unique function used to describe rate of change at any point) would be:
##y’ = m##
Differentiation is a local property. It happens at a certain point, e.g. at ##x=0,## i.e. at point ##P=(y,x)=(b,0).##
If we write ##y'=mx## then this is the equation of the tangent line at ##P.## The tangent is vector space, in this case, a vector space of dimension one, a straight. The origin of this vector space is ##P.## So we have ##P=(b,0)## in the coordinate system of the function, and ##P=(0,0)## in the coordinate system of the tangent.
adjurovich said:
However, if we were to do the same for quadratic, we wouldn’t be able to because we can’t make a triangle out of curve.
We can draw secants through two points ##P## and ##P'.## Now we let ##P'## approach ##P## until the secants become a tangent. All secants and the resulting tangent have their own slopes. The tangents however have different slopes at different points ##P##, other than in the linear case.
adjurovich said:
So we observe the rate of change at each point (it’s not the same at each point) so we just draw the tangent (I am still wondering if length of what is the length of that tangent determined by) and then we have to take the derivative to be able to find some global law of how value changes, and it’s:
##y’ = 2x##
This common notation hides a few things. It is the equation of a function, and the long notation would be
$$
y'= (x_0 \mapsto y'=y'(x_0)=2\cdot x_0 = \left. \dfrac{d}{dx}\right|_{x_0} y(x)=\lim_{\Delta y \to 0}\dfrac{\Delta x}{\Delta x}=\lim_{\Delta x \to 0}\dfrac{y(x_0+\Delta x)-y(x_0)}{\Delta x}\quad (*)
$$
where ##x_0## is the ##x##-coordinate of the point where we take the differentiation. ##y'## is a notation that does not say which and therefore covers all meanings in one letter:
- the function ##x\longmapsto y'(x)## that maps a location ##x## to the steepness of the function ##y## at that point
- the steepness itself, i.e. a certain real number ##y'(x_0)##
- the limit ##y'=\lim_{\Delta x \to 0}\dfrac{\Delta y}{\Delta x}##
- the tangent ##T(x)=y'\cdot x##
This all can be hidden behind the notation ##y'.## Usually, it means the first point on the list
$$
y'(p) = \left(p\longmapsto \left. \dfrac{d}{dx}\right|_{x=p}y(p)\right)
$$
I have written ##p## instead of ##x,## simply to emphasize that it is what happens at a certain point.
adjurovich said:
That way, if we wanted to know “m” at some point, we have to plug in the coordinate of that point at x?
Correct.
adjurovich said:
This all seems to me somehow confusing, maybe it needs to “cook for some time”? If I am wrong, please correct me.
It is confusing, see my list. And people usually do not say which item on the list they refer to if they write ##y'.## It is highly context-sensitive. And we have only discussed the cases ##y(x)=x^n## and ##y'(x)=nx^{n-1}.## You will have taken a big step of understanding if you read and understand the long notation (*) above.
The best way to get through this confusion is to answer the following question: What is your variable? The function ##y##, the location ##P##, the variable of the derivative (a point on the tangent), the secants that approach a tangent, the steepness (slope) of the tangent. Since differentiation can be seen as a procedure (secants approaching a tangent, calculation of a limit, applying differentiation rules to a function), it automatically raises the question of which part of the procedure should be in the focus.
adjurovich said:
Also, one more thing, does derivative represent how function would change if it became linear all of sudden at some point at curve and decided to ignore it’s previous non-linear path?
Yes. The process can best be considered as those secants ##\overline{PP'}## that become a tangent at ##P## when ##P'## approaches ##P.##