🚀 How Fast Are Things Changing?
The rate of change tells you how one quantity changes in relation to another — it’s used in math, science, business, and even everyday life.
In this article, you’ll learn what rate of change means, how to calculate it, see a real-life example, and use a free calculator to crunch the numbers for yourself.
Table of Contents
🙋 What Is Rate of Change?
Rate of change measures how much something increases or decreases compared to something else. It answers questions like:
- How fast is a car moving?
- How quickly is a business growing?
- How steep is a hill?
In math, it’s often written as:
Rate of Change = (Change in Value) ÷ (Change in Time or Input)
This gives you a ratio, like miles per hour, dollars per month, or population per year.
📊 Real-Life Example
Let’s say a company’s revenue increased from $200,000 to $300,000 over 2 years.
Rate of Change = (300,000 − 200,000) ÷ 2 = $50,000 per year
This tells you the business grew by $50,000 annually.
🧠 Common Uses
Rate of change is used in:
- Physics (speed = distance ÷ time)
- Economics (price changes over time)
- Business (growth in customers or revenue)
- Math (slope of a line)
📎 Final Thoughts
Understanding rate of change helps you make sense of trends, performance, and movement in just about any field. Use the calculator above to explore different scenarios and improve your insights.