Re: Gradient-Multivariable Calculus
An intuitive example: think of a mountain as the graph of a function from the plane to the real numbers. If you pour water on the mountain, it will flow in the opposite direction of the gradient of this function.
A little fancier: the gradient is always perpendicular to the level sets of a function. Moving along the level set produces no change; moving along the gradient produces the maximal change.
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