Preparing for Calculus I: Essential Precalculus Skills for Success

[Ryuk1990]

Hey guys, I was wondering what Precalculus skills I should brush up on before the spring semester when I'll be taking Calculus I?

 

[electrical_ck]

this is a good website i use http://online.math.uh.edu/Math1330/index.html

 

[Cod]

Ryuk1990, I'm getting prepared to take Calc I as well. I'm currently looking over important formuals from College Algebra and Trigonometry. I haven't taken a math course since 2004, so a lot of catching up to do before 19 January (class start date).

Good luck with your class!

 

[Ryuk1990]

Ryuk1990, I'm getting prepared to take Calc I as well. I'm currently looking over important formuals from College Algebra and Trigonometry. I haven't taken a math course since 2004, so a lot of catching up to do before 19 January (class start date).

Good luck with your class!

Good luck to you too! :-)

That sure is a lot of years of no math. My advice would be to not just look over important formulas but to actually practice solving algebraic and trigonometric problems. Do this for about an hour each day. The best way to get good at math is to just keep practicing.

 

[magorium]

Well your basic Maths should be good. Like mostly we use ;

Numbers
Functions
Equations and Non-Equations
Quadratic Equations also maybe
mostly the College maths. But I believe these will be shortly re-told to you by your teacher at the beginning of the Calculus 1 for making you remember so don't worry about that. Calculus 1 is just Limit-Integral-Curve. (Well actually Integral and Curve are also limits so we can call it's all about "Limits") So no need to panic

 

[erok81]

Ryuk1990, I'm getting prepared to take Calc I as well. I'm currently looking over important formuals from College Algebra and Trigonometry. I haven't taken a math course since 2004, so a lot of catching up to do before 19 January (class start date).

Good luck with your class!

I hadn't taken algebra or trig for about the same time you have. I started in Calc I without doing any studying and managed to get an A without too much extra effort. As dumb as it sounds the most important thing is the really easy algebra stuff - simplifying. The trig is really easy to remember once you start as there aren't that many trig formulas used and when they are they are easy ones. Same with logs, you relearn those in class for the most part.

The only thing I got hung up on was algebra, oh and some of the graphs that go along with it so you can recognize them. Graphps like natural log, e^x, x^2, etc, those were big ones too.

 

[Pinu7]

Brush up on inequalities and absolute values or you will want to cry when you get to the epsilon-delta formalism(often the first thing you learn in Calc!)

Also, remember all your trig identities and other transcendental functions.

 

[Ya$amin]

oops...math!
i love it,but i can't get good marks in it in high school!
i'm going to feel depressed gradually ...

 

[sEsposito]

My personal two cents when it comes to Calc I is to make sure you know your basic algebra. It's a major part of calculus in general and if you're good at algebric equations, you can make the differentiation, limit and integration problems a hell of a lot easier. Good luck.