Introduction to differentiation

This free course is an introduction to differentiation. Section 1 looks at gradients of graphs and introduces differentiation from first principles. Section 2 looks at finding derivatives of simple functions. Section 3 introduces rates of change by looking at real life situations. Section 4 looks at using the derivative of a function to deduce useful facts for sketching its graph. Section 5 covers the second derivative test, used to determine the nature of stationary points and ends by looking at rates of change, including the real-life situation, using differentiation to find acceleration.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• Link to course PDF
• Activity applets
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgements