Definition:Rate of Change
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Definition
The rate of change of a physical quantity is its (first) derivative with respect to time.
Loosely speaking, it means how fast something changes, with a wider scope than change in physical displacement.
Dimension
Let a physical quantity $P$ have dimension $D$.
Then the rate of change of $P$ has dimension $D T^{-1}$.
Sources
- 1937: Eric Temple Bell: Men of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text{VI}$: On the Seashore
- 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Entry: rate of change
