Unit 1: Rates of Change and Limits

1.1 & 1.2 – Rates of Change and the Slope of a Curve

What is one common example of a rate of change?

Average rate of change -

Instantaneous rate of change -

Secants – lines that connect two points that lie on the same curve

Tangents – lines that run “parallel” to, or in the same direction as, the curve,
touching it at only one point. The point at which the tangent touches the graph is
called the _____________________. (Note: for more complex functions, a line
that is tangent at one x-value may be a secant for an interval on the function)

Connecting Secants and Tangents – as the distance between two secants

becomes smaller and smaller, the rate of change becomes closer to the value of
the tangent.

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Unit 1: Rates of Change and Limits

An outdoor hot tub holds 2700 L of water. When a valve at the

Example #1 bottom of the tub is opened, it takes 3 h for the water to
completely drain. The volume of the water in the tub is modelled by the function

, where V is the volume of the water in the hot tub, in litres,

and t is the time, in minutes that the valve is open. Determine the instantaneous
rate of change of the volume of the water at 60 min.
a) What is the shape of the graph of this function?

b) Express the domain of this function in interval notation. Explain why

you have selected this domain.

c) Calculate V(60). What are the units of your results? Explain why
calculating the volume at t = 60 does not tell you anything about the
rate of change? What is missing?

d) Complete the following table.

Tangent Time Increment
Second Point Q Slope of Secant PQ
Point P (min)

(60, 1200) 3 (63, 1140.8)

(60, 1200) 1 (61, 1180.1)

(60, 1200) 0.1

(60, 1200) 0.01

(60, 1200) 0.001

(60, 1200) 0.0001

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Unit 1: Rates of Change and Limits

e) Why is the slope of PQ negative?

f) How does the slope of PQ change as the time increment decreases?

Explain why this makes sense.

g) Predict the slope of the tangent at P(60, 1200).

h) How could you find a more accurate estimate of the slope of the
tangent at P(60, 1200)?

When the equation of function y = f(x) is known, the average rate of change over
an interval is determined by calculating the slope of the secant:

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Unit 1: Rates of Change and Limits

If h represents the interval between two points on the x-axis, then the two points
can be expressed in terms of a: a and (a + h). The two endpoints of the secant
are (a, f(a)) and ((a + h), f(a + h)). y

The slope of the secant between P(a, f(a)) and Q(a + h, f(a+h)) is called the
difference quotient and is expressed as:

Ahmed is cleaning outside the patio windows at his aunt’s

Example #2 apartment, which is located 90 m above the ground. Ahmed
accidentally kicks a flowerpot, sending it over the edge of the balcony.
The height of a falling object can be modelled by the function
, where d is the object’s original height above the
ground, in metres, and t is time, in seconds.

a) Determine an algebraic expression, in terms of a and h, that represent

the average rate of change of the height above the ground of the falling
flowerpot. Simplify your expression.

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Unit 1: Rates of Change and Limits

b) Determine the average rate of change of the flowerpot’s height above

the ground in the interval between 1 s and 3 s after it fell from the edge
of the balcony.

c) Estimate the instantaneous rate of change of the flowerpot’s height at

1 s and 3 s.

Practice Questions: Text pg20-23, Q# 1-2, 4, 7, 10-13, 14a-e, 15-16

On the day of the unit test, the assigned question from each day must be handed
in to be marked. Late submissions are subject to a penalty of 5% per day.

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