Calculus: Mathematics of Rates of Change of Derivatives

Branch of Math

Photo by Shubham Sharan on Unsplash

What is Calculus?

Calculus is a branch of mathematics that deals with rates of change and accumulation of quantities. It is a fundamental area of mathematics that has widespread applications in various fields, including physics, engineering, economics, computer science, and more.

Calculus was developed independently by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in the late 17th century, and it consists of two main branches, Differential Calculus and Integral Calculus.

Differential Calculus

Differential calculus focuses on the concept of the derivative. The derivative of a function represents the rate at which a function is changing at a particular point. It is defined as the limit of the ratio of the change in the function’s value to the change in the independent variable as the latter change approaches zero.
Notation: The derivative of a function f(x) is often denoted as f’(x), dy/dx,

or df/dx.

Integral Calculus

Integral calculus deals with the concept of integration. Integration is essentially the reverse process of differentiation. It involves finding the accumulation or total of quantities…