linear

(adjective)

having the form of a line; straight

Related Terms

  • differentiable
  • differential equation
  • exponential
  • polynomial

Examples of linear in the following topics:

  • Linear Equations

    • A linear equation is an algebraic equation in which each term is either a constant or the product of a constant and a single variable.
    • A common form of a linear equation in the two variables xxx and yyy is:
    • The origin of the name "linear" comes from the fact that the set of solutions of such an equation forms a straight line in the plane.
    • Linear differential equations are differential equations that have solutions which can be added together to form other solutions.
    • Linear differential equations are of the form:
  • Linear Approximation

    • A linear approximation is an approximation of a general function using a linear function.
    • In mathematics, a linear approximation is an approximation of a general function using a linear function (more precisely, an affine function).
    • Linear approximations are widely used to solve (or approximate solutions to) equations.
    • Linear approximation is achieved by using Taylor's theorem to approximate the value of a function at a point.
    • If one were to take an infinitesimally small step size for aaa, the linear approximation would exactly match the function.
  • Nonhomogeneous Linear Equations

    • In the previous atom, we learned that a second-order linear differential equation has the form:
    • When f(t)=0f(t)=0f(t)=0, the equations are called homogeneous second-order linear differential equations.
    • However, there is a very important property of the linear differential equation, which can be useful in finding solutions.
    • Phenomena such as heat transfer can be described using nonhomogeneous second-order linear differential equations.
    • Identify when a second-order linear differential equation can be solved analytically
  • Linear and Quadratic Functions

    • Linear and quadratic functions make lines and parabola, respectively, when graphed.
    • In calculus and algebra, the term linear function refers to a function that satisfies the following two linearity properties:
    • Linear functions may be confused with affine functions.
    • Although affine functions make lines when graphed, they do not satisfy the properties of linearity.
    • Linear functions form the basis of linear algebra.
  • Second-Order Linear Equations

    • A second-order linear differential equation has the form d2ydt2+A1(t)dydt+A2(t)y=f(t)\frac{d^2 y}{dt^2} + A_1(t)\frac{dy}{dt} + A_2(t)y = f(t)​dt​2​​​​d​2​​y​​+A​1​​(t)​dt​​dy​​+A​2​​(t)y=f(t), where A1(t)A_1(t)A​1​​(t), A2(t)A_2(t)A​2​​(t), and f(t)f(t)f(t) are continuous functions.
    • Linear differential equations are of the form Ly=fLy = fLy=f, where the differential operator LLL is a linear operator, yyy is the unknown function (such as a function of time y(t)y(t)y(t)), and the right hand side fff is a given function of the same nature as yyy (called the source term).
    • The linear operator LLL may be considered to be of the form:
    • The linearity condition on LLL rules out operations such as taking the square of the derivative of yyy, but permits, for example, taking the second derivative of yyy.
    • When f(t)=0f(t)=0f(t)=0, the equations are called homogeneous second-order linear differential equations.
  • Applications of Second-Order Differential Equations

    • A second-order linear differential equation can be commonly found in physics, economics, and engineering.
    • Examples of homogeneous or nonhomogeneous second-order linear differential equation can be found in many different disciplines, such as physics, economics, and engineering.
    • Therefore, we end up with a homogeneous second-order linear differential equation:
    • Identify problems that require solution of nonhomogeneous and homogeneous second-order linear differential equations
  • Tangent Planes and Linear Approximations

    • The plane describing the linear approximation for a surface described by z=f(x,y)z=f(x,y)z=f(x,y) is given as:
  • Basic Integration Principles

    • The integral of a linear combination is the linear combination of the integrals.
  • Approximate Integration

    • The function f(x)f(x)f(x) (in blue) is approximated by a linear function (in red).
  • Exponential Growth and Decay

    • In the long run, exponential growth of any kind will overtake linear growth of any kind as well as any polynomial growth.
    • This graph illustrates how exponential growth (green) surpasses both linear (red) and cubic (blue) growth.
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