Calculus 1A: Differentiation

18.01.1x Calculus 1A: Differentiation is the first of three MITx modules that together cover MIT's single variable calculus course; the others are Calculus 1B: Integration and Calculus 1C: Coordinate Systems and Infinite Series. The module is built around the derivative: what it is, its mathematical notation, physical meaning and geometric interpretation, and how to move fluently between those views. You learn to differentiate any function you can think up, to develop intuition for sketching graphs, to make linear and quadratic approximations that simplify computation, and to maximise and minimise functions in order to optimise quantities such as cost, efficiency, energy and power. MIT motivates the material with questions like how a zip line's final speed changes with its starting height, how accurate a GPS position is, and how fast a plane should fly to minimise fuel use.

The course is instructor-paced and estimated at 14 weeks with 8 to 10 hours per week. Auditing is free and gives access to the course and its materials. The $100 certificate track adds graded assignments and exams and an MIT certificate of completion. The OpenCourseWare course 18.01SC covers the same calculus without grading or a certificate.