Linear Approximations

Mysterious radiation has caused all calculators to stop

working. It just so happens that at this time, you need to
find out the square root of 5. The best you are going to be
able to do now is approximate it. But how?

Let’s start with the function y  x at x = 4 because we

know what 4 is When we make a graph of this process, you will
get a better sense of why we are doing this.

First of all, what is the tangent line at x = 4?

1
y  ( x  4)  2
4

Now graph both the function and its tangent line…


Use the tangent line to the function y  x at x = 4
to approximate 5 1
y  ( x  4)  2
4
Notice that for
numbers close to
4, the tangent line
is very close to the
curve itself…
So lets try plugging
5 into the tangent
line equation and
see what we get…


Use the tangent line to the function y  x at x = 4
to approximate 5 1
y  ( x  4)  2
4
Notice how close the point on the line is to the curve…

. 25)
5 , 2 So let’s plug 5 into
( 
the tangent line to
(5, 5 ) get…
(4, 2) (5, 2.23607)
1
 y  (5  4)  2  2.25
4
As it turns out…
So in this case, our approximation
will be a very good one as long as we 5  2.23607
use a number close to 4.

For any function f (x), the tangent is a close approximation
of the function for some small distance from the tangent
point.
y

f  x   f a 
Notice that at points very
close to a, the tangent line
and the curve are almost
the same.
x
0 xa

For any function f (x), the tangent is a close approximation
of the function for some small distance from the tangent
point.

(a, f(a))  (a+h, y(a+h))

f  x   f a  
(a+h, f(a+h))

Where y = mt(x – a) + f(a)

For any function f (x), the tangent is a close approximation
of the function for some small distance from the tangent
point.

(a, f(a))  (a+h, y(a+h))

f  x   f a  
(a+h, f(a+h))

We call the equation of this tangent

the linearization of the function at a
and it is denoted by the function
notation L(x).
Problems in the book will also refer to “the linearization of f at a”

y – y0 = m(x – x0) We take the point-slope form…

Make a few notational
substitutions…
L( x)  f (a )  f (a )( x  a ) and…

f  x   L  x  is the standard linear approximation of f at a.

Remember: The linearization is just the equation of the tangent line.
The use of the term L(x) is to make it known that you are using the
tangent line to make a linear approximation of the function in
question. But we are still just talking about the tangent line.
Try a few simple L(x)  f (a)  f (a)(x  a)
linearizations near x = 0:

f x L x L(x)  f (0)  f (0)(x  0)

x L(x)  sin(0)  cos(0)(x  0)
sin x

cos x  L(x)  0  1(x  0)

tan x  L( x)  x

1  x 
k
 The graph would look like this:
 y

L(x)  x
 y  sin(x)


 x

  



Notice how close the graphs are to each other near x = 0

Try a few simple L(x)  f (a)  f (a)(x  a)
linearizations near zero:

f x L x L(x)  f (0)  f (0)(x  0)

x L(x)  sin(0)  cos(0)(x  0)
sin x

cos x 
1 L(x)  0  1(x  0)
tan x x L( x)  x

1  x 
k
1  kx Now try the other three.