Tuesday, January 18, 2011

LEARNING ABOUT DIFFERENCE QUOTIENTS

The Difference Quotient is an important topic of study under Calculus. It is defined as the function difference divided by the point difference.
It is given by the formula :

Delta F(P) / Delta P
= F(P+ Delta P)- F(P) /Delta P
= Delta F (P +Delta P) / Delta P

Where, Delta P is the difference between 2 points.
Difference quotient is also often known as Newton's Quotient.

Students need to learn the difference between Difference Quotient Derivative and as a Divided Difference.

Students can also learn about Higher order Difference quotients like the:
  • Second order
  • Third order
  • Nth order

Thursday, January 6, 2011

SOLVING EQUATIONS IN ALGEBRA

Algebra is a branch of Math which deals with study of rules of operations and concepts related to them like variables, equations, expressions etc,. Equations are an important topic of study under algebra.
Equations are values or expressions separated by an ' = ' (equal to) sign. In Algebra, equations consist of variables. Equations are of different types based upon the exponential value to the 'degree' to which they are raised to. They are :
  • Linear Equations
  • Differential Equations
  • Quadratic Equations
  • Radical Equations etc,.
Students can learn to solve simpler Linear Equations first. They are called 2 Step equations. They can first learn to Solve 2 step equations. These, as the name suggests, can be solved in 2 simple steps.
  • First step would involve grouping of Variables and constants
  • Second would be determining the value of the variable.
Students can also learn solving more complex equations like Solve 5x equations are involved. There might be 2 algebraic expressions forming a second or third degree equation to be solved.