- Linear approximation
In
mathematics , a linear approximation is an approximation of a general function using alinear function (more precisely, anaffine function ).Definition
Given a
differentiable function "f" of one real variable,Taylor's theorem for "n"=1 states that:
where is the remainder term. The linear approximation is obtained by dropping the remainder:
:
which is true for "x" close to "a". The expression on the right-hand side is just the equation for the
tangent line to the graph of "f" at ("a", "f"("a")), and for this reason, this process is also called the tangent line approximation.Linear approximations for vector functions of a vector variable are obtained in the same way, with the derivative at a point replaced by the
Jacobian matrix. For example, given a differentiable function with real values, one can approximate for close to by the formula:The right-hand side is the equation of the plane tangent to the graph of at
In the more general case of
Banach space s, one has:
where is the
Fréchet derivative of at .Examples
To find an approximation of one can do as follows.
# Consider the function Hence, the problem is reduced to finding the value of .
# We have
#:
# According to linear approximation
#:
# The result, 2.926, lies fairly close to the actual value 2.924…References
*cite book |author=Weinstein, Alan; Marsden, Jerrold E. |title=Calculus III |publisher=Springer-Verlag |location=Berlin |year=1984 |pages= page 775|isbn=0-387-90985-0 |oclc= |doi=
*
*cite book |author=Bock, David; Hockett, Shirley O. |title=How to Prepare for the AP Calculus|publisher=Barrons Educational Series |location=Hauppauge, NY |year=2005 |pages=page 118 |isbn=0-7641-2382-3 |oclc= |doi=
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