The difference quotient is a formula that computes the slope of the secant line through two points on the graph of <em>f</em>. These are the points with x-coordinates x and x + h. The difference quotient is used in the definition the derivative and it is given by
You are 5,987. 5 in the thousands place because you are a number in the 5,000s, and also the smallest 2 digit number divided 2 makes 5. 9 in the hundreds place because the biggest 1 digit number is 9. 8 in the tens place because the only single digit number that is a multiple of 4, but not 4, is 8. 7 in the ones place because 9 is the hundreds place, minus 2 is 7.