Calculus AB 2017 Cross-Platform Prep Course

Abstract

Congratulations! You are an AP Calculus student. Not too shabby! As you know, AP Calculus is one of the most challenging subjects in high school. You are studying mathematical ideas that helped change the world. Not that long ago, calculus was taught at the graduate level. Today, smart young people like yourself study calculus in high school. Most colleges will give you credit if you score a 3 or more on the AP Calculus exam. So how do you do well on the AP Calculus exam? How do you get a 5? Well, you’ve already taken the first step. You’re reading this book. The next thing you need to do is to make sure that you understand the materials and do the practice problems. In recent years, the AP Calculus exam has gone through many changes. For example, today the questions no longer stress long and tedious algebraic manipulations. Instead, you are expected to be able to solve a broad range of problems, including problems presented to you in the form of a graph, a chart, or a word problem. For many of the questions, you are also expected to use your calculator to find the solutions. After having taught AP Calculus for many years and having spoken to students and other calculus teachers, we understand some of the difficulties that students might encounter with the AP Calculus exam. For example, some students have complained about not being able to visualize what the question was asking and other students said that even when the solution was given, they could not follow the steps. Under these circumstances, who wouldn’t be frustrated? In this book, we have addressed these issues. Whenever possible, problems are accompanied by diagrams and solutions are presented in a step-by-step manner. The graphing calculator is used extensively whenever it is permitted. To make things even easier, this book begins with a chapter that reviews precalculus. So, if you need to look up a formula, definition, or concept in precalculus, it is right here in the book. If you’re familiar with these concepts, you might skip this chapter and begin with Chapter 6. So how do you get a 5 on the AP Calculus exam?