mathdad
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In your opinion, what are the most important topics in precalculus needed before entering calculus 1? What must a student know well after taking precalculus?
Ackbach said:Definitely need to know your trig really well. See http://mathhelpboards.com/trigonometry-12/trigonometry-memorize-trigonometry-derive-35.html for some help on that. You need to know basic geometric facts like areas of squares, rectangles, triangles, and trapezoids. You need analytic geometry - so you're very familiar with going between the equation defining a function and its graph. You also need a significant mastery of basic algebra: finding roots of polynomials, solving equations including linear and quadratic. If you look at Stewart's Calculus book, he has a Diagnostic Exam in the beginning that should help you understand very well what the most important things to know are.