Section 4.2 Linear Approximations and Differentials

Text for Section 4.2 Linear Approximations and Differentials

Learning Objectives

• Describe the linear approximation to a function at a point.
• Write the linearization of a given function.
• Draw a graph that illustrates the use of differentials to approximate the change in a quantity.
• Calculate the relative error and percentage error in using a differential approximation.

• Using linear approximation to estimate a function value
• Differentials - comparing Delta y and dy
• Using differentials to approximate actual and relative measurement error