Chapter 4 Definitions

Cost Function: C(x); cost of producing x units of a certain product.

Marginal Cost: C’(x); rate of change of C with respect to x.

Average Cost Function: c(x)=C(x)/x; cost per unit when x units are produced.

Demand Function/Price Function: p(x); Price per unit that the company can charge if it sells x units.

Revenue Function/Sales Function: R(x)=xp(x); When x units are sold and the price is p(x).

Marginal Revenue Function: R’(x); the rate of change of reveune in respect to the number of units sold.

Profit Function: P(x)=R(x)-C(x); total profit is when x units are sold.

Marginal Profit Function: P’(x); the derivative of the profit function.

Newton’s Method/Newton-Raphson Method: A method that helps approximate a zero.

Antiderivative: A function F is called an antiderivative of f on an interval l if F(x)=f(x) for all x in l.

Differential Equation: An equation that involves the derivative of a function.