What are Advanced Functions, Calculus, Geometry and Discrete Math?

[MathHelp]

I will be going into grade 12 soon and the two math courses that I will be taking are 1) Advanced Functions & Intro Calculas 2) Geom & Discrete Math

I have no idea what either one will be like. So is there any info where I can read up about these maths to get more a little more ready for them?

Thanks.

 

[Oxidirt]

http://jwbales.home.mindspring.com/precal/

that might help, its a tutorial for precal, good luck in grade 12 I am heading there this year too

 

[gazzo]

http://www.maths.mq.edu.au/~wchen/ln.html

=)

Those are pretty handy, or err...
http://www.geocities.com/alex_stef/mylist.html

 

[AKG]

I will be going into grade 12 soon and the two math courses that I will be taking are 1) Advanced Functions & Intro Calculas 2) Geom & Discrete Math

I have no idea what either one will be like. So is there any info where I can read up about these maths to get more a little more ready for them?

Thanks.

It sounds like you're living in Ontario, am I right? For 1) I'm not sure what the "functions" part of the course will have in store, but introductory calculus will basically be learning some stuff about differentiation. Think of the curve y = x². At the point (0,0), the slope of the curve is zero. As x increases, you can see the slope of the curve increases, and as x decreases (the curve seems to get closer and closer to going straight up), you can see the slope decreases (the curve seems to get closer and closer to going straight down). In fact, you can find the slope of this curve at each value of x, and you get an entirely new function, one that describes the slope of the original curve at each point. This new function is the derivative of the original curve, and you'll basically be doing a lot of stuff that let's you find the derivatives of various functions.

2) If you've done any physics (I assume you have by gr 11) then you will be familiar with vectors. So in this course, you'll be doing a bunch of stuff with vectors. You will also be looking at lines and planes in 3-dimensional space (I'm assuming you can read most of this stuff right out of the course calendar). Hmm... actually, do you have any specific questions. Read the descriptions of the courses and ask about what you don't get.

 

[jreason]

I also live in Ontario and am familiar with the courses.

Calculus, depending on the textbook you are using, will be broken up into a few different parts.

Mainly, it'll involve studying the slope (rate of change) of tangents and secants of functions by means of differentiation and derivation.

First is introductory stuff, reviewing of prerequisite skills (factoring, polynomials, some graphing). After that you'll get into first-principles of deriving functions (finding slope of tangents/secants), limits and continuity of functions. Next you start taking the derivative of functions (slope) using various simpler methods. Then you'll get into implicit differentiation (deriving functions where y is not isolated), related rates and optimization problems (word problems usually having to do with some geometric figure like a cone, cube, sphere, etc). Then you start exponential functions which you will already know, which will lead to logarthmic functions which is a large chunk of the course. Finally is curve sketching which is pretty self explanatory, but lots will be new (finding asymptotes, points of inflection).

Pretty much everything after the first chapter(s) will be new to you, hopefully you'll have a good teacher to guide you through it all. Just do your homework and ask questions and you'll do fine. You already took good initiative to come here!

As for Discrete, I didn't need it for prerequisites so I didn't take it... Even though it would've been smart of me to. But AKG is probably on point with what he mentioned.

If you want to know any more about the Calculus course in detail feel free to ask.

 

[Nenad]

yess, more Ontario people. I just fonoshed grade 12, and I took both cources. I got a 94 in calc and a 82 in Discreet. Depending on who youre teacher is, the couce will differ. In calculus, we did the whole book and it was fairly easy. You will have no problem with it if you do your homework and try to understand defivatives and the concept of functions. For discreet, it gets a little hairy. I found the vector stuff easy, this was our first unit (2d, 3d vectors, lines and planes in 3 space). She second part was hard (proofs) and the last part was easy (counting and mathematical induction). In order to succeed in this couce, ask a lot of questions and don't leave a rock unturned. Good luck kid.