Confusion about average and instantaneous rates of change?

[Matthew_Park_2K]

Hi all, I was a bit stuck on the difference between average and instantaneous rate of change. I know that it has something to do with the differences between the number of time steps we use, but I'm a little confused on the specifics, any help would be great! Thanks!

[William Chen 2K]

Average refers to the rate of change over a period of time, whereas instantaneous refers to the rate of change at an instant (a point in time, which can be approximated.)

[Bryan Lee 2L]

Average rate is the change over a certain period of time, and instantaneous rate, as the name suggests, is measured by finding change at one specific, "instant" time period. It is easier to think about it this way: average rate will use two points on the graph while instantaneous rate can be calculated with just one single point.

[Euri Lopez 3H]

Average is the slope over a long period of time. Instantaneous is the slope at only one point in time.