HP 50g Chapter Calculus Applications, Calc Calculus menu, Limits and derivatives, Function lim

Chapter 11

Calculus Applications

In this Chapter we discuss applications of the calculator’s functions to operations related to Calculus, e.g., limits, derivatives, integrals, power series, etc.

The CALC (Calculus) menu

Many of the functions presented in this Chapter are contained in the calculator’s CALC menu, available through the keystroke sequence „Ö(associated with the 4key):

The first four options in this menu are actually sub-menus that apply to (1) derivatives and integrals, (2) limits and power series, (3) differential equations, and (4) graphics. The functions in entries (1) and (2) will be presented in this Chapter. Functions DERVX and INTVX are discussed in page 11-3, respectively.

Limits and derivatives

Differential calculus deals with derivatives, or rates of change, of functions and their applications in mathematical analysis. The derivative of a function is defined as a limit of the difference of a function as the increment in the independent variable tends to zero. Limits are used also to check the continuity of functions.

Function lim

The calculator provides function lim to calculate limits of functions. This function uses as input an expression representing a function and the value where the limit is to be calculated. Function lim is available through the command catalog (‚N~„l) or through option 2. LIMITS & SERIES… of the CALC menu (see above).

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