where u is the flow velocity. The first term on the right-hand side of the equation is the ordinary Eulerian derivative (the derivative on a fixed reference frame, representing changes at a point with respect to time) whereas the second term represents changes of a quantity with respect to position (see advection). This "special" derivative is in fact the ordinary derivative of a function of many variables along a path following the fluid motion; it may be derived through application of the chain rule in which all independent variables are checked for change along the path (which is to say, the total derivative).