differential quotient
- Thread starter Loki123
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Please provide a reference - what was the context where you encountered this term?
BigBeachBanana
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I have heard the phrase used before, but it might not be what you're referring to. The differential quotient is essentially the derivative at a specified point of the function.
[math]\lim_{x \to a}\frac{f(x)-f(a)}{x-a}[/math]
page 5,
"Leibniz saw the derivative as a ratio of infinitesimal differences and called it the differential quotient"
Dr.Peterson
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The difference quotient is the expression we take the limit of in defining the derivative. That may be what you have in mind, since I am guessing that you translated it from another language.
Difference quotient - Wikipedia
But it appears that differential quotient is sometimes used to mean the derivative, perhaps because it is the quotient of differentials (dy and dx).
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