What resources can help me brush up on math before starting calculus?

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Starting calculus can be challenging, especially without a solid foundation in high school math. It's crucial to review trigonometry, particularly the unit circle and identities, as well as functions, since they are central to calculus concepts. Recommended resources include "How To Ace Calculus: The Streetwise Guide," which serves as a helpful introduction, although it lacks practice problems that can be found online. For trigonometry, a free resource like Oak Road Systems is suggested for its clear explanations. It's emphasized that there's no need to read multiple books before beginning calculus; focusing on one comprehensive guide and supplementing with online videos from platforms like Khan Academy can be effective for self-study.
Frzn
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Hey guys, I'm starting calculus this summer and don't feel very confident in my high school math skills. Are there any books I could read that would be able to reteach me trigonometry (stuff like the unit circle, identities, etc not talking about basic solving for angles/sides of a triangle), algebra, etc?
 
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I can't remember any books right at this moment but you're correct that you should review basic trig. More importantly, review as much as you can about functions. This is the central focus for most arguments in calculus. Any good calculus book and instructor will review the basics before going into the mathematical structure of calculus. Calculus, at first, may seem very difficult because of the new notation, but once you understand the meaning of the derivative and integral it becomes easily digestible.
 
I highly recommend How To Ace Calculus: The Streetwise Guide as a nice introduction to Calculus. I'm using it now to self study so my summer calculus course isn't too overwhelming. It lacks practice problem sets but you can find plenty of those on the web with a little digging.

For Trig I recommend http://oakroadsystems.com/twt/ . It's free and does a pretty good job explaining things.
 
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All the math you'll need as an undergraduate. Beginning with elementary algebra. Also a great list of reference books to have. You can always find older versions a lot cheaper.
 
kuahji said:


All the math you'll need as an undergraduate. Beginning with elementary algebra. Also a great list of reference books to have. You can always find older versions a lot cheaper.

Awesome! Thank you!
 
I think it's easy for you to find what you want. Just use google and type what you need.
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0199142599/?tag=pfamazon01-20

You don't need to read 6 books before you start calculus. I believe the above book should do more than suffice. Maybe throw some free videos off of www.khanacademy.org[/url] & [url]www.justmathtutoring.com[/URL] into the mix.
 
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