Differentiation Fundamentals
This page covers the essential aspects of differentiation in OCR MEI Maths A Level.
Differentiation is used to find the gradient of a curve at a specific point and is the opposite of integration. Students must know how to prove differentiation from first principles and find equations of tangents and normals.
Definition: A tangent is a line that touches a curve at a single point, while a normal is perpendicular to the tangent at that point.
The nature of stationary points can be determined by finding dy/dx and evaluating points on either side of the stationary point. Differentiation is also used to calculate maximum and minimum values of functions.
Example: To find the equation of a tangent, use y - y₁ = m(x - x₁), where m is the gradient found through differentiation.
Integration, the opposite of differentiation, is used to calculate definite integrals and find areas under curves. When integrating, remember to include a constant (+C) for indefinite integrals.
Highlight: Always draw a sketch when calculating definite integrals to visualize where the curve crosses the axes.
The page also covers volumes of revolution and the Trapezium Rule for approximating areas under curves.
Vocabulary: The Trapezium Rule is expressed as Ax = ½h[y₀ + yn + 2(y₁ + y₂ + ... + yn-1)], where h is the strip width.