Difference between revisions of "Calculus"
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
The ''ideas'' underlying calculus though, they are what's valuable. Particularly the concept of infinitesimal, which blew my mind when I first heard of it. | The ''ideas'' underlying calculus though, they are what's valuable. Particularly the concept of infinitesimal, which blew my mind when I first heard of it. | ||
| + | An infinitesimal is some quantity that is explicitly nonzero and yet smaller in absolute value than any real quantity. A change in this quantity is called a differential, usually notated as dx, if x is the variable. | ||
| − | + | ||
| + | Calculus can be used to create equations for model systems, which are then calculated on computers and compared to the real result. As with all math though, calculus only approximates reality. | ||
Revision as of 13:30, 24 March 2020
Other than a mental exercise and to show how smart someone is, I never saw much use in calculus. Numerical methods are used to do calculations, not calculus, so what is it really used for? The ideas underlying calculus though, they are what's valuable. Particularly the concept of infinitesimal, which blew my mind when I first heard of it.
An infinitesimal is some quantity that is explicitly nonzero and yet smaller in absolute value than any real quantity. A change in this quantity is called a differential, usually notated as dx, if x is the variable.
Calculus can be used to create equations for model systems, which are then calculated on computers and compared to the real result. As with all math though, calculus only approximates reality.
