Function: math[slopefn] - slope of a real-valued function
Calling Sequence:
slopefn(f);
slopefn(f, x);
slopefn(f, x=a);
Parameters:
f -
any expression in x
x -
a name
a -
a point (numerical or symbolic value)
Description:
This function determines the slope of a function f in one real x.
Arguments need to be specified according to the type of the expression f:
If f is a constant or linear function and if it includes only the name x, use the first form.
If f is a constant or linear function and if it also includes parameters, use the second form.
If f is not a constant or not a linear function, use the third form.
If f is not a constant or not a linear function, slopefn calls math/tangente to determine the tangent line of f at the point a and then returns the slope of that tangent line.
Internally the function uses the help procedure math/isBasic which checks if ldegree (f, x) >= 0 and degree (f, x) < 2.
This function is part of the math package, and so can be used only after performing the command with(math) or with(math, slopefn).
Examples:
> with(math, slopefn):
> slopefn(0);
> slopefn(x);
> slopefn(0, x);
> slopefn(x, x);
> slopefn(exp(x), x=2);
> slopefn(x^2, x=t);
See Also:
math/tangente , math/normale , math/lineangle , math/curveplot , student/slope .
Version History:
Version 1.0 as of December 07, 1997