AP Calculus AB

Antiderivatives, Differential Equations, and Slope Fields

Review
Consider the equation

yx
Solution

dy Find 2x dx

Antiderivatives
What is an inverse operation? Examples include: Addition and subtraction Multiplication and division Exponents and logarithms

Antiderivatives
Differentiation also has an inverse

antidefferentiation

Antiderivatives
Consider the function by f x 5x 4. What is

whose derivative is given

F x ? F x x

Solution

We say that

. F x is an antiderivative of f x

Antiderivatives
Notice that we say F x is an antiderivative and not the antiderivative. Why? Since F x is an antiderivative of say that F ' x f x .

f x , we can

If

Gx x 3 and H x x 2, find
5

g x and hx .

Differential Equations
dy Recall the earlier equation . 2x dx
This is called a differential equation and could also be written as dy 2 xdx . We can think of solving a differential equation as being similar to solving any other equation.

Differential Equations
Trying to find y as a function of x Can only find indefinite solutions

Differential Equations
There are two basic steps to follow: 1. Isolate the differential

2. Invert both sidesin other words, find the antiderivative

Differential Equations
Since we are only finding indefinite solutions, we must indicate the ambiguity of the constant. Normally, this is done through using a letter to represent any constant. Generally, we use C.

Differential Equations
dy Solve 2x dx

y x2 C

Solution

Slope Fields
Consider the following: HippoCampus

Slope Fields
A slope field shows the general flow of a differential equations solution. Often, slope fields are used in lieu of actually solving differential equations.

Slope Fields
To construct a slope field, start with a differential equation. For simplicitys sake well use dy 2 xdx Slope Fields Rather than solving the differential equation, well construct a slope field Pick points in the coordinate plane Plug in the x and y values The result is the slope of the tangent line at that point

Slope Fields
Notice that since there is no y in our equation, horizontal rows all contain parallel segments. The same would be true for vertical columns if there were no x.

dy x y. Construct a slope field for dx