At the left side of the window one of 8 different predefined base functions y = f(x) can be selected by radio buttons. A suitable x range is attributed to each of them.
When the simulation is opened, the Gaussian function will be active. It is drawn as a blue curve. The zero line is shown in black.
At the top of the window there are 10 checkboxes to select derivatives of the base function. These are drawn as curves in the color of the check box numbers. Derivatives of different order can be shown simultaneously. Not all may be distinctly visible if their scales differ significantly. The scaling of the ordinate is self adjusting to the highest value.
A red dot on the curve defines a model point x0, y0 , for which the values of the derivatives a1 to a9 are shown in the number fields at the lower left. The dot can be drawn with the mouse to calculate derivatives for arbitrary model points. If it is drawn out of the abscissa range, it can be reset with the Reset Button.
Any one of the predefined functions can be selected with the Radio Buttons at the left.
For the sine function the curves of the 4th and the 8th derivative correctly coincide with that of the base function. The ninth derivative does not yet show visible irregularities by calculation or approximation errors.
With the power function, the 9th derivative is a very high constant. At high x values the limited resolution of the difference algorithm results in increasing noise-like deviations.
The functions in this simulation are not editable as in other simulations of this course. The reason is that this is the only way the results for high order derivatives can be calculated real time. If you want to investigate other functions, open the simulation with the EJS Console, and change or add the simple code for a predefined function.