The book "Instrument Engineers' Handbook vol. 1 - Liptak" said that for the first-order system forced by a step or an impulse, the time constant is the time required to complete 63.2% of the total rise or decay; at any instant during the process, the time constant is the quotient of the instantaneous rate of change divided into the change still to be completed.
How can I express the last sentence mathematically?
Thank you very much.