MATM1534

2.1 THE TANGENT LINE AND VELOCITY PROBLEM

Tangent lines and Secant lines
How do we find the slope of a secant line?

Δ 𝑦
𝑚=
Δ 𝑥
How do we get the slope of the tangent line?
E.g.1: Determine the equation of the tangent line to at the point (1,1).

2 3
1.5 2.5
1.1 2.1
1.01 2.01
1.001 2.001

𝑥2−1
lim =2
𝑥→1 𝑥 −1
Secant --> tangent to at (1,1)
The velocity problem

• Average velocity
• Instantaneous velocity
• What is the link between these two?
Average Velocity (AV)
average velocity =
is also called displacement

Let s(t) be the position at time t of the train:

A B
t = 3 min t = 13min
s(t) = 10km s(t) = 30km

AV =
= 2km/min
Does this mean the train was moving at 2km/min the whole time? (No!)
Instantaneous Velocity (IV)
We get the IV if we calculate the average velocity over an infinitely small time interval.
IV = limit if of
Let ( is a small positive value)
Then:
And
Then AV =
IV =
= instantaneous velocity at time
Velocity on a graph
Straight line: slope = m = ∆y/∆x
m = constant
e.g.: y = 2x + 3
1  x  2 m = (y(2) – y(1))/(2-1) = (7 – 5)/1 = 2
3  x  5 m = (y(5) – y(3))/(5 – 3) = (13 - 9)/2 = 2

s(t) = 2t + 3, m = ∆s/∆t = AV
0.1  t  0.2, m = (s(0.2) – s(0.1))/(0.2-0.1)
= (3.4 – 3.2)/0.1 = 2
lim
IV = ∆t 0AV = AV = 2
Velocity on a graph
What about ?
m = ∆s/∆t is not constant anymore.
IV = ≠ AV
AV is the slope of
the secant line.
IV is the slope
of the tangent line
The slope of the tangent
line is equal to the slope
of the curve at the point,
the tangent point.
Limits to calculate IV

Let . Determine the IV at t = 3.

=
=
= (6+h) = 6
 Numerical approximation to IV

Let . Determine the IV at t = 3