Calculus In much of this module we will be looking at the concept of change.

In mathematics, science and engineering, many things change continually, though it is also true that others remain constant. To take a simple example, we may consider motion. Velocity is the rate of change of distance with respect to time, and acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with respect to time. What we have in both cases is the rate of change of one variable with respect to another. The rate of change of x with respect to y is the Gradient as shown on a graph. We must now look at gradients with respect to a curve. To do this we are going to use the quadratic graph y = x2 part of this graph is re-produced below between the limits of x = -3 and x = 3. The gradient can be determined by taking two points on the curve and constructing a triangle. The smaller the sample the closer the hypotenuse approximates to a tangent to the line at that point.