854
Appendix
C
Mathematical Topics
The first term gives the value of the function at
x
=
x,.
The first two terms give a straight-
line fit of the curve at
x
=
x,.
The first three terms give a parabolic fit of the curve at
x
=
x,
and so on. The Taylor series is often used when only the first several terms are
needed to describe the function adequately.
Here are a few Taylor series expansions of standard functions about the point
x
=
0:
x x2
X3
eix=lt-+-+-+
...
I!
2!
-
3!
(C.2-2)
x2 x3 x4
ln(l+x)=x--+---+.ee
234
(C.2.3)
x2 x4
x6
erfx=p
1--+---+...
2x
(
1!3 2!5 3!7
(C.2-4)
VG
1
1.1
2
1'1'3x3-...
V"Fi=l+-x-x
+
2 2.4 2.4.6
(C.2-5)
Further examples may be found in calculus textbooks and handbooks. Taylor series can
also be written for functions of two or more variables.
5C.3
DIFFERENTIATION OF INTEGRALS
(THE LEIBNIZ FORMULA)
Suppose we have a function
f
(x,
t)
that depends on a space variable
x
and the time
t.
Then we can form the integral
P(t)
I(t)
=
I
f(x,
t)
dx
(C.3-1)
dt)
which is a function of
t
[see Fig.
C.3-l(a)].
If we want to differentiate this function with
respect to
t
without evaluating the integral, we can use the Leibniz formula
Figure
C.3-l(b)
shows the meanings of the operations performed here: the first term on
the right side gives the change in the integral because the function itself is changing with
a(t) a(t
+
At) P(t) P(t
+
At)
Fig.
C.3-1.
(a)
The shaded area represents
I(t)
=
J
f
(x,
t)dx
at an
df)
instant
t
(Eq. C.3-1).
(b)
To get
dI/dt,
we
form the difference
I(t
+
At)
-
I(t),
divide
by
At,
and then let
At
+
0.
The three shaded
areas correspond to the three terms on the right side of
Eq. C.3-2.