constraint a restraint or limit; the budget constraint indicates a limited amount that can be spent






derivative in calculus, the change in a dependent variable that comes with a very small change in the independent variables






function a rule that describes the relationship between variables






marginal revenue product the value of an additional resource to a firm; the marginal revenue multiplied by the marginal product

marginal relationship a relationship between two variables that looks at the difference or change between them






objective function the item being optimized; profit under profit maximization; cost under cost minimization; happiness under utility maximization






partial derivative in calculus, measures a change in the dependent variable with respect to a very small change in one independent variable, everything else held constant






value of the marginal product the value of a resource to a firm that sells its output in a commodity market