Is it normal to find a perpendicular line to the tangent line? The short video provides a problem to find the equation of the normal line to a function. Beginning with an explanation of the normal line, the 27th installment in a 31-part series on calculus finds the equation of the tangent line. Using the slope relationships between perpendicular lines, the resource then finds the equation of the normal line.

Concepts

tangent lines, derivatives, differential calculus, perpendicular lines, slope, point-slope form

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Additional Tags

math

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Instructional Ideas

• Review the relationship between the slopes of perpendicular lines

Classroom Considerations

• Individuals should be comfortable finding the derivative of a function
• Class members need to be able to find the equation of a line given the slope and a point on the line

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Shows the graphic representation of the graph of the function, the tangent line, and the normal line
• Includes closed captioning

Cons

• None