Differential equations are tested every year. The actual solving of the differential equation is usually the main part of the problem, but it is accompanied by a related question such as a slope field or a tangent line approximation. BC students may also be asked to approximate using Euler’s Method. Large parts of the BC…
Before we look at the table and Riemann sum problem take a look at this: A Google Employee has calculated to over a trillion decimal places, To be exact 31,425925,535,897 places…Hum, where have I seen those digits before? And it only took took 25 virtual machines 121 days to do it. On to Riemann sums…
Given equations that define a region in the plane students are asked to find its area, the volume of the solid formed when the region is revolved around a line, and/or the region is used as a base of a solid with regular cross-sections. This standard application of the integral has appeared every year since…
The long name is “Here’s the graph of the derivative, tell me things about the function.” Students are given either the equation of the derivative of a function or a graph identified as the derivative of a function but no equation is given. It is not expected that students will write the equation (although this…
We continue the discussion of the various type questions on the AP Calculus Exams with linear motion questions. “A particle (or car, or bicycle) moves on a number line ….” These questions may give the position equation, the velocity equation (most often), or the acceleration equation of something that is moving, along with an initial…
The Free-response Questions There are ten general categories of AP Calculus free-response questions. As I’ve done in part years, I will consider each individually over the next few weeks posting on Tuesdays and Fridays. These will be updates of last year’s posts. Here is the list of the types and the schedule: Tuesday March 5, 2019…
This is a list of links to some resources for reviewing. How, Not Only to Survive, but to Prevail… – Notes and advice for your students. You may copy and duplicate this for your class. Calculator Use on the AP Exams – hints and instruction. Ted Gott’s Free-response Index – an excel spreadsheet searchable by…
It will soon be time to start reviewing for the AP Calculus Exams. So, it’s time to start planning your review. For the next weeks through the beginning of April I will be posting notes for reviewing. There are not new; versions have been posted for the last few years and these are only slightly…
This is a BC topic Good Question 16 (11-30-2018) What you get when you substitute. Geometric Series – Far Out (2-14-2017) A very interesting and instructive mistake Synthetic Summer Fun (7-10-2017) Finding the Taylor series coefficients without differentiating Error Bounds (2-22-2013) The alternating series error bound, and the Lagrange error bound The Lagrange Highway (5-20-15)…
This is a BC topic POWER SERIES (Maclaurin series and Taylor series) Introducing Power Series 1 (2-8-2013) Making better approximations Introducing Power Series 2 (2-11-2013) Graphing and seeing the interval of convergence Introducing Power Series 3 (2-13-2013) Questions pointing the way to power series Graphing Taylor Polynomials (2-7-2017) Using a graphing calculator to graphs Taylor…
This is a BC topic. SEQUENCES Everyday series (1-17-2017) The most familiar series: Numbers Amortization (2-9-2015) An important use of a (finite) series – Find you mortgage payment without calculus. Convergence Test List A summary of the tests. Download and copy for your students (and yourself) Which Convergence Test Should I Use? Part 1 (2-9-2018)…
In BC calculus the only application parametric equations and vectors is motion in a plane. Polar equations concern area and the meaning of derivatives. See the review notes for more detail and an outline of the topics. (only 3 items here) Motion Problems: Same Thing Different Context (11-16-2012) Implicit Differentiation of Parametric Equations (5-17-2014) A…
