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Internet Resources for the Calculus Student

Why Derivatives?

The idea of the derivative of a function is intended to describe the rate of change of the given function. One obviously useful example is that the derivative of the position of an object as a function of time gives the velocity as a function of time. Some other motivating examples are given in the following links:

Why Slopes? -- A Calculus Preview for Algebra Students
Stressed Out - Slope as Rate of Change
Derivatives -- Introduction -- Curved Mirrors
Introduction to Derivative Concept (@ubc)
Intro to Derivative from Hofstra project
Derivatives Intro @PWS
 
 

You might also check our 'raw list' (of links provided without comment) to see if there are any more examples there that we haven't yet included here.
 

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