Talk:Derivative at a point
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Derivative
Peter, could you please explain why you prefer the title "differential quotient"? I haven't studied mathematics in English for some time, but I still feel that "derivative" is the more common name. Formally, the derivative should be the limit of the differential quotient as h approaches zero, but in my mind they are not the same concept. Johan A. Förberg 22:08, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
- I see a subtle difference:
- The differential quotient of f at x is the limit of the difference quotients at x (only one particular point considered),
- while the derivative of f is the function with values equal to the differential quotient (the full dominion of the function is considered).
- (The redirect is not final, "derivative" should have its own page, as should have "derivation".)
- Peter Schmitt 00:54, 22 January 2011 (UTC)
- OK, I see your point. But as the article reads now, it only confuses the reader further as to the difference between the derivative and the d.q. Johan A. Förberg 23:34, 22 January 2011 (UTC)
- I never met the term "differential quotient". Wikipedia has no such article, and moreover, its search gives no results. Google gives first 5 results that contain in fact only "difference quotient", but result no. 6 (dictionary.com) mentions "differential quotient" as item 6 in "derivative". --Boris Tsirelson 06:34, 23 January 2011 (UTC)