Math 151-copyright Joe Kahlig, 09B Page 1

Section 2.7: Tangents, Velocities, and Other Rates of Change

Definition: The instantaneous rate of change of a function f (x) at x = a is the slope of the
tangent line at x = a and is denoted f ′ (a).

Example: Use this graph to answer these questions.

f(x)
7
A) Estimate the instantaneous rate of change
at x = 1. 6

3
B) Find the equation of the tangent line at
2
x = 1.
1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 x
9
−1
C) At what values of x does f (x) have an −2
instantaneous rate of change of 0?
−3

Example: Find the average rate of change of f (x) = 2x2 − x from

A) x = 1 to x = 4

B) x = 1 to x = 3

C) x = 1 to x = 2
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Definition: The slope of the tangent line(instantaneous rate of change) at x = a is

f (x) − f (a)
mtan = lim
x→a x−a

Example: Find the slope of the tangent line for f (x) = 2x2 − x at x = 1. Also give the equation of
the tangent line at x = 1.

Definition: If r(t) is a vector function, then the tangent vector at x = a if found by

1 1
   
lim [r(t) − r(a)] or lim [r(a + h) − r(a)]
t→a t−a h→0 h
Math 151-copyright Joe Kahlig, 09B Page 3

Example: Find the tangent vector at the point (10, 136) for r(t) = 5t, 100t − 16t2 .



Example: A ball is tossed into the air. Its position at time t is given by r(t) = 5t, 100t − 16t2 .



A) Find the velocity of the ball at t = 2.

B) Find the speed of the ball at t = 2.

C) When does the ball hit the ground?

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1
Example: Find the instantaneous rate of change at x = 9 for f (x) = √ .
x