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Suppose I have the integral $$\int a x\,dx$$ Now obviously $x$ is the variable here, but is it right to say $a$ is a constant?

Is it right to say we can use a letter to signify a constant, and if so, how is it that $a$ can be a constant if it can take different values, as a constant is defined as only taking one value?

thanks

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Nav Bhatthal
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    Does this answer your question? What is a constant? – Another User Oct 28 '22 at 16:09
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    It is constant with respect to $x$. That is, we can change the value of $x$ without changing the value of $a$. This is not true for example of $f(x) = x^2$ . That is not constant with respect to $x$. But it is constant with respect to a new variable $y$ . So we could have $\int f(x) y,dy$, and $f(x)$ would take the role of $a$ here (with $y$ having taken the role of $x$) . – user3257842 Oct 28 '22 at 16:32

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