Introduction

Calculus, to many students, is a difficult subject and they find it less interesting. But what
they do not know is, the application of calculus – be it differentiation, integration or
differential equation, they are widely used in our everyday life and it is important in a wide
variety of fields.

But how is calculus applied in our daily lives? Sports, for example basketball, badminton and
archery, involves a lot of calculus, which comes along with physics, by studying the motion,
force used, work done, distance and height parameters, and so on. We use calculus in other
fields such as engineering, architecture, geometry, astronomy, economics, statistics, physics
and even medicine. In Chemistry, calculus is widely used in subjects such as Physical
Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry. It can be used to predict
functions such as reaction rates, decomposition rates and radioactive decay. In Biology field,
it is used to formulate rates such as birth rates and death rates. Besides that, calculus is also
used to check answers for different mathematical disciplines such as analytical geometry,
statistics and algebra. With calculus, we would be able to find out the effects that changes of
a condition in a system. By using the knowledge of calculus, we can learn how to change or
control a system into a preferential condition.

Differential Equation

Differential equation is the difference or the amount of difference, as in quantity, quality,

cost, rate, degree, or between things that are comparable. In Mathematics, it is
any generalization of this function to higher dimensions, or a function of two variables that is
obtained from a given function,

y = f (x)

and that expresses the approximate increment in thegiven function as the derivative of the fun
ction times theincrement in the independent variable, written as

dy = f′ (x) dx.

In general, a differential equation is an equation that involves one or more derivatives of

some unknown function or functions. One of the common usage of differential equation is in
Malthusian law – the study of population growth. The simplest mathematical model of
population growth is obtained by assuming that the rate of increase of the population at any
time is proportional to the size of the population at that time. If we let P(t) denote the
population at time t, then

dP/dt = kP

where k is a positive constant. Separating the variables and integrating yields

P(t) = P0ekt

where P0 denotes the population at t = 0. This law predicts an exponential increase in the
population with time, which gives a reasonably accurate description of the growth of certain
algae, bacteria, and cell cultures. It is called the Malthusian growth model. The time taken for
such a culture to double in size is called the doubling time. This is the time, td, when

P(td ) = 2P0

By substituting P(t) = P0ekt, we can obtained

2P0 = P0ektd.

By dividing both sides by P0 and taking logarithms, we find

ktd = ln2,

so that the doubling time is

td = 1/k ln 2

Application of Differentiation in Chemistry

Calculus and algebra is one of the compulsory subjects to take by the Science stream students
in their first year. This is because calculus technique is an elementary requirement in their
future study, especially for chemistry students. In this essay, we will discuss about the
applications of calculus in Chemistry field.

Assume that we have a simple reaction between 2 reactant, A and B. We will obtain equation
shown below:

A + B ————————> Product

In this case, the rate of reaction is the measure base on the rate of change of concentration of
reactant (c A or c B) or the concentration of product forming.
 𝑑𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑑【product 】
Rate = — （ ）=
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

Note that in this case the rate of reactant is a negative value while the rate of product is a
positive value, this is due to the reactant had been used (decrease over time) to produce to the
product (increase over time).

Generally, the concentration any substance present may affect the rate. A rate
expression related the rate to the concentration of reaction or product. It is possible to
represent by a simple algebraic equation:

𝑑𝑐 𝐴
— （ ） = kcAncBm
𝑑𝑡

n and m are integers. The reaction is then said to be of order n with respect to reactant A
while order m respect to reactant B. K is the rate constant or rate coefficient as it is
independent with concentration in this case.

Chemical Kinetics is very important in Chemistry as Chemical Kinetics help chemist to

figure out how and why a reaction occurs by identify the step in a chemical reaction process,
which is important to improve or develop a better mechanism for future use. Ultimately,
apply of differentiation is important for chemist to determine the way to manipulate the rate
(faster of slower) of the reaction.

Another common application of differential in chemistry is the Radioactive Decay.

Radioactive decay is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy (in terms
of mass in its rest frame) by emitting radiation, such as an alpha particle, beta particle with
neutrino or only a neutrino in the case of electron capture, gamma ray, or electron in the case
of internal conversion. The decay rate is characterized in terms of their measured decay
constants, λ (also known as half-lives).

Consider the case of a nuclide A that decays into another B by some process A → B.
Symbolically, this process can be expressed by the following differential equation, where N
is the quantity and λ (half life) is a positive rate called the decay constant:

𝒅𝑵
= — λN
𝒅𝒕
The solution to the equation is:

Nt = N02- t/T

T = time taken of substance to decay to one half of its initial value.

Nt = quantity at time t

N0 = initial quantity

Thus, based on the equation, the amount of substance left after one haft life is 2−1 = 1/2 and
after 3 half-lives there will be 1/23 = 1/8 of the original substance left.

To make it simple, in radioactive decay, differential was used to know how much time it
takes for a contaminated area to be safe. While in Chemical kinetics, differential was used to
predict a reaction's speed or to determine the mechanism of a reaction. Other than that,
calculus and differential equations can be used in Quantum mechanics to determine the
behavior of atoms and molecules. In Biochemistry, integration and differential equations are
heavily utilized to derive kinetic rate laws.

Application of Differentiation in Biology and Medicine.

Biology and medicine is one of the real-life application that uses calculus in many ways.

(i) Blood flow

To identify blood flow in an artery or a vein at a given point in time. For example, a
cylindrical tube is used to model the shape of artery or vein (blood vessel). The velocity of
the blood is the highest along central axis due to friction caused by walls. When the velocity
decreases, as radius increases and reaches the wall of artery and becomes 0. In order to
determine the rate of blood flow, smaller and equally spaced radii can be used so that ring has
an inner radius and outer radius.

Velocity of blood flow that flows along the blood vessel:

𝑃
𝑣=
4𝜂𝑙(𝑅 2 − 𝑟 2 )
𝑃 ∶ 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒𝑠

𝜂 ∶ 𝑉𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑

𝑙 ∶ 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ of blood vessel

𝑅 ∶ 𝑅𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑙

(ii) Cardiac Output

Calculus can be used to determine cardiac output or to find out the amount of blood pumped
through the heart per unit area in other words it is known as rate of blood flow into aorta. In
order to measure the cardiac output, the dye dilution method is used. Dye is injected into right
atrium and flows with blood into aorta where a probe is placed into the aorta to check the
concentration of dye leaving the heart at equal time intervals until dye runs out.

To find cardiac output:

𝐴
𝐹= 𝑇
∫0 𝑐(𝑡)𝑑𝑡

𝐹 ∶ 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑

𝐴 ∶ 𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑦𝑒

𝑐(𝑡) ∶ 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑦𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝑡

(iii) Tumour Growth

Calculus also can be used to identify how fast a tumour is growing or shrinking and number
of cells involved to make up a tumour and to determine the size when the tumour will stop
growing when certain treatment should be given. Gompertzian method is used as growth rate
decreased over time due to prolonged cell cycle, decreased oxygen or nutrient availability and
increased rate of cell death.
 Gompertzian method:

𝑑𝑉
= V [a -bln (V)]
𝑑𝑇

𝑑𝑉
∶ 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝑑𝑇

N: number of cells

a: growth constant

b: growth retardation

Conclusion

In a nutshell, calculus has a huge role in the real world. For most professions, learning it is
the key to success. Because of the ability to model and control systems, calculus gives us
extraordinary power over the material world. Therefore we can't regard calculus as just
another academic nuisance. If it is, interest on the matter wouldn't have lasted as long as it
did.