Online Class Material

Mr. Khairi’s ICT IGCSE

Desmos – Gradient of tangent line

Desmos.com is a website simulator for math graphing. It helps to draw any graph faster. Here is one of
the math problems that solve by using some of Desmos features.

The gradient of a straight line is constant and is calculated by considering the coordinates of two of the
points on the line.

To calculate gradient of a curve at a specific point, following steps need to be taken.

 Draw a tangent to the curve at that point.

 Calculate the gradient

Here is the example:

(You can check the more details on the book IGCSE Math Cambridge Chapter 18)
Worked example for number 1:

Open the “Tangent Line” feature.

“a” refers to the tangent point.

Input the number from the
question of “gradient where …” Tangent line
presented as red line.

Choose two points from

the tangent line. Example
(0,-1) and (2,3)
Use the formula to find gradient of two points, (0,-1) and (2,3)

y 2− y 1 3−(−1) 4
gradient= = = =2
x 2−x 1 2−0 2

So, the gradient of the curve at point where x=1 is 2.