Derivative
Also: instantaneous slope
The local rate at which one quantity changes with another.
The derivative is the limit of a difference quotient; sampled estimates depend on interval, noise, and numerical method.
- Units
- output units per input unit
- Formula
dx/dt = lim(Δt→0) Δx/Δt
Example Velocity is the time derivative of position.
Common misconception Subtracting adjacent noisy samples is only an approximation, not an exact derivative.