DIFFERENTIATION

Differentiation is a method of finding the derivative of a function. Differentiation is a process

where we find the instantaneous rate of change in a function based on one of its variables. If x
is a variable and y is another variable, then the rate of change of x with respect to y is given
by . This is the general expression of derivative of a function and is represented as:

( )

Where, y = f(x) is any function.

In Mathematics, Differentiation can be defined as a derivative of a function with

respect to an independent variable. Differentiation, in calculus, can be applied to measure the
function per unit change in the independent variable.

Let y = f (x) be a finite and single-valued function of x. Here, x is the independent

variable and y is the dependent variable, i.e., any change in x (increase or decrease) will bring
about a change in y. Let ∆x be in increment in x and let ∆y be the corresponding increment in
y. If the ratio tends to a definite finite limit as ∆x tends to zero, then this limit is called the
differential coefficient (or derivative) of y w.r.t x. It is denoted as:

( ) * ( )+ * ( )+

The process of finding the differential coefficient is called differentiation and we are
said to differentiate y or f(x) with respect to x.