What is differentiation?

Differentiation is a method used to find the rate of change of a function with respect to a given variable, eg. how f(x) changes with respect to x. There are different ways to find the derivative of a function based on the terms that make up the function. For example,f(x) = x² + 3x + 3.is one of the simplest types of functions to differentiate. In this case we would use the rule of multiplying each x term by it's power and then reducing it's power by 1. All constants become 0. Hence we get:f'(x) = 2x¹ + 3x⁰ + 0 = 2x + 3 To find the derivative of the function at a given value of x we simply plug the chosen value into our derived equation and the number generated will give us the steepness of the graph (if we were to plot the equation) and hence the rate of change of f(x).