In calculus, you’ll often hear “The derivative is the slope of the tangent line.” But what is a tangent line? The definition is trickier than you might think. Tangent lines are important because they are the best way to approximate a curve using a line. We can then use the slope of the line as a way to measure the “slope” of the curve.
In calculus, you’ll often hear “The derivative is the slope of the tangent line.” But what is a tangent line? The definition is trickier than you might think. Tangent lines are important because they are the best way to approximate a curve using a line. We can then use the slope of the line as a way to measure the “slope” of the curve.