Finding the derivative other than x

[marco213]

Hello everyone,

I have encountered a problem where there's a variable a, and a variable x.

The problem is to find the derivative of x - a .

I know it sound easy, but the variable a is very confusing.. Any help?

 

[Quaid]

I have encountered a problem where there's a variable a, and a variable x.

The problem is to find the derivative of x - a .

I know it sound easy, but the variable a is very confusing.

Hi Marco:

Were you told that symbol a represents a variable?

If not, it probably represents a constant.

Cheers :cool:

 

[HallsofIvy]

IF both x and a are variables then the phrase "find the derivative" is incorrect. It would be "find the (partial) derivative with respect to x" or "find the (partial) derivative with respect to a". Since the problem says only "find the derivative", I think we may assume that "a" is a constant.

I don't know how far you are in Calculus now but if you know that the derivative is a generalization of "slope" of a linear function, then this problem is very easy.