Differentiation of Transcendental Functions

transcendental adj. abstract; obscure; visionary

transcendental function n. a non-algebraic function.
Examples: sine(x); log(x); arccos(x)

Why study this...?

There are many technical and scientific applications of exponential (ex), logarithmic (log x) and trigonometric functions (sin x, cos x, etc). (See some of the uses of trigonometry.)

In this chapter, we find formulas for the derivatives of such transcendental functions. We need to know the rate of change of the functions for later applications.

In this Chapter

Differentiating Trigonometric Functions

Differentiating Logarithmic and Exponential Functions

Related Sections in "Interactive Mathematics"

The Derivative, an introduction to differentiation, (for the newbies).

Integration, which is actually the opposite of differentiation.

Differential Equations, which are a different type of integration problem that involve differentiation as well.

See also the Introduction to Calculus, where there is a brief history of calculus.

rafi
Rafiki, meditating on things transcendental...



We begin with the formulas for Derivatives of sine, cosine and tangent »





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