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The gradient is a fancy word for derivative, or the rate of change of a function. Itâs a vector (a direction to move) that. 1  Points in the direction of greatest increase of a function (intuition on why)  Is zero at a local maximum or local minimum (because there is no single direction of increase)
This is also referred to as the movement of a substance down a concentration gradient. A gradient is the change in the value of a quantity (e.g., concentration, pressure, temperature) with the change in another variable (usually distance).