Taking precalculus will make finding tangents secant nature! Many people are confused by using difference quotients with limits in a derivative, and these videos help break it into smaller pieces. Leaving out the derivative and the limits, the presenter demonstrates how to simplify difference quotients into a simple slope formula for a secant line. 

Concepts

difference quotient, slope, secant, functions, limits, derivatives, function notation

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Additional Tags

math

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Instructional Ideas

• After watching the instructional video, have class members attempt to solve the first example problem before watching the narrator solve it step by step; use the second and third example problems the same way

Classroom Considerations

• Video best fits as an introduction to difference quotients and secant lines
• Requires a computer with Internet access and flash to work properly

Pros

• Includes a very clear step-by-step explanation
• Contains three guided practice problems

Cons

• None