Calculus Help

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Zer_0
 
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Calculus Help

Post by Zer_0 »

Hi All,

Seeing as though many individuals whom are a part of these threads are engineers, I was hoping I could get a little advice on an upcoming Calculus course I will be taking.

Basically, I haven't taken a math course in quite some time, and will be diving head first into a Calculus 1 course this fall to fulfill a prerequisite requirement for a graduate program I will be enrolling in. I have taken all of the prereqs required for Calculus, but due to how long its been since I took those courses I am worried that I will not be prepared for the upcoming concepts.

Are there any study materials I should look over prior to the start of my Calculus course? I was told looking over old Algebra materials would be a good starting point, but I seem to have misplaced my old textbooks and I am unsure of which textbooks currently available would be sufficient.

Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Z

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dr. au-fait
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by dr. au-fait »

There's bound to be something here to help you get back up to speed:
http://www.khanacademy.org/

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scott_42
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by scott_42 »

I'd also recommend going to a used book store and seeing if they have any pre-calc algebra books. You should be able to pick up any of them (whatever you can find) and skim over the material. Also a geometry text would be helpful for calc intro.

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zener
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by zener »

There will likely be a couple of people in the class who aced it in high school and will be sleeping through it. Be sure to buddy up with them, sit next to them. They can fill you in on what is going on. Calculus 1 is actually quite simple, but you have to get your head around the basic concepts like the chain rule which seem to defy logic at first. Just approach it from a monkey see monkey do point of view at first. Do watch the Khan videos which will help. You will need some basic algebra, and knowing you times tables will help. Hopefully you will have a good teacher who is not a ball buster. If you have a bad teacher then it will only be 100 times worse...

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ImaginaryAxis
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by ImaginaryAxis »

You can always pick up Schaum's Outlines. They have numerous reference books on all sorts of subjects with example problems.

thefatmoop
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by thefatmoop »

I was a calculus tutor for about 1.5 years at my school, and I believe teachers in calc1 don't explain what the course is really about.

In calc1 you will learn two main concepts: taking the derivative, and integrating.

The derivative is a function that describes the slope of the original function. Integrating finds the area under the function.


http://archives.math.utk.edu/visual.cal ... 12/eq1.gif
Will be one of the first thing's you'll cover. This is the definition of a derivative.

using function f(x) = 12x + 5
So on the upper left f(x+h) means you take your original equation and replace x with (x+h), So it would become 12(x+h) + 5. Now you take the function again and just subtract it from the x+h version

(12(x+h) + 5 - (12x +5))/h

distribute and cancel out everything. Your goal is to cancel out the h in the denominator. Once you've done that, replace h with 0. You should be left with jsut 12 once you do the algebra

thefatmoop
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by thefatmoop »

Ohh and rule number 1: Keep up with your homework. If you skip a few days it's easy to be VERY overwhelmed. Also most schools offer free tutoring services, and calc1 is used so often that many engineering/math students will quickly pick up and be able to do what you're working on.

Zer_0
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by Zer_0 »

Thank you all very much for your responses. The Khan videos look extremely informative, and I have also been looking into the Schaum's Outlines to determine a suitable starting point. I greatly appreciate all of your advice and will be sure to look into everything that has been mentioned.

I will be sure to post any questions I may have as I look into this further.

Thanks again!

Z

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zener
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by zener »

We didn't do integration until Calc II. If you are lucky you will have online homework. Cramster.com is your friend as always.

pstemari
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by pstemari »

Really? That's a bit crazy.

Now I have epsilon/delta definitions of a limit stuck in my head.

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westfw
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by westfw »

A calc class will be somewhat variable depending on target audience (a 1st-semester class will probably need to feel-out the experience of students from different backgrounds, while a 2nd-semester class would expect to start where the 1st semester class leaves off, for example), length of class, and "rigor" (is this "calc for engineering", or "calc for life sciences" or "calc for business majors" or (heaven forbid!) "calc for math majors.")

In addition to reviewing your algebra, look over your trig...

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ImaginaryAxis
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by ImaginaryAxis »

Trigonometry will help with the derivatives and integrals of the transcendental functions; although, truth be told I only use sin, cosine, and tangent today.

You can also join All About Circuits. They have a homework forum.

Oh, and I hate you Epsilon-Delta.

rattlesnake
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by rattlesnake »

Calculus part is very important foundation for the course you will be taking so please be sure that you take it with utmost seriousness. You can find free calculus help @ tutorvista.com these guys have a great calculus section and will be surely a great help.I know this as I have personally used it when I was in high school.

http://math.tutorvista.com/calculus.html

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somkis
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by somkis »

this can be done simple by someone who get jobs in Engineering, Easily they solve it.

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adafruit_support_carter
 
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Re: Calculus Help

Post by adafruit_support_carter »

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