EasyCalculusca-006

Forward Difference Derivative

Problem

Approximate the derivative of f(x) = sum(coeffs[i] * x^i) at x using the forward difference quotient:

f'(x) ≈ (f(x + h) - f(x)) / h

coeffs[i] is the coefficient of x^i and h defaults to 1e-6.

Hint

Evaluate the polynomial at x and at x + h, then divide the difference by h.

case 1

in: [[1,2,1],2]

expected: 6.000001

case 2

in: [[0,0,2],-1]

expected: -3.999998

case 3

in: [[7],5]

expected: 0

case 4

in: [[0,3],10]

expected: 3

Starter codePython

def forward_difference(coeffs, x, h=1e-6):
    # coeffs[i] is the coefficient of x^i
    # Your code here
    pass

4 test cases · run your code against them in the editor