Using differentials, give approximations for these quantities.
(Show your work.)
- \( 1/(\sqrt{10} + 1) \)
- \( 3 + 4 \tan (\pi /12) \)
Tags: differentials, root, trig, computation, a--a, t2, c1
I like these problems because they give students a nice introduction into approximating values that are not easily accessible unless with the aid of a calculator. In addition, instructing students to interpret their computations on the graphs of these underlying functions, students get a nice geometrical perspective of linear approximations.
– Darrin Visarraga 1998-08-09