28. Interpreting Diffy-Qs

In this section, you will be tested to see if you can correctly interpret differential equations and use these equations to estimate the value of the original function. A majority of the problems I have for this section will force you to use or find the tangent line using the differential equation.

The problems in this section HEAVILY mimic those found on problems in the free response portion of the AP Calculus exam.

What is a differential equation? A differential equation is just an equation for the slope or rate of change of a function.

Example wording: The function f '(t) which models the rate at which the shoreline of a beachfront property is changing is f '(t)= 8-.6t. t is measured in years and f(t) is measured in feet. When will the shoreline of the beach stop receding? (A. 13.667 years from now)

Differential equation are like Related Rates problems where we start with the derivative. In this section you are asked to interpret the rate.

Khan Academy talking about differential equations.