Category Archives: AP Calculus Exams

A Few More Things

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The AP Calculus AB and BC exams are scheduled for Tuesday May 15, 2018 at 08:00 local time. That’s about 5 weeks away. I’ve posted all my review notes, finishing well ahead of time so, if you find something useful in them, you’ll have time to incorporate it into your review. I hope you find them helpful. The links to the 12 review posts are at the end of this post. 

What this also means is that I finished my year before you. There will be only occasional posts between now and August when I’ll start again going through the year. Should I find something interesting to write about, I’ll post it. To be sure you don’t miss anything, I suggest you click on the “Follow Teaching Calculus” link at the very bottom of the right hand column. This will inform you of new post by email. Meanwhile, if you have any questions, suggestions, or anything you’d like my thoughts on please email me at lnmcmullin@aol.com or add a comment at the end of any post.

Happy reviewing. Good luck to your students on the exam!

For today a few short items, including a great new resource. 

On grading practice exams

When going over their students’ work on the real AP Exam questions teachers often get bogged down in the minutia of grading. They want, quite naturally, to give their students every point they earned, but not more than that. They have questions like, “What is they forget the dx?”  or “Do they have to include units?” This is my suggestion originally posted to the AP Calculus Community bulletin board a few weeks ago:

As exam time nears, teachers become concerned about exactly what to give credit for and what not to give credit for when grading their students’ work on past AP free-response questions.

Chief Reader Stephen Davis recently posted a note on the grading of a fictitious exam question showing how 2 points might have been awarded on a L’Hospital’s Rule question.  The note is interesting because it shows the detail that exam leaders consider when deciding what to accept and what not; it shows the detail that readers must keep in mind while grading. This type of detail with the examples is given to the readers in writing for each part of each question. With about 500,000 exams each year, this level of detail is necessary for fairness and consistency in the scoring.

BUT, as teachers preparing your students for the exam you really don’t need to be concerned about all the fine points (2.5 pages’ worth) as readers do. Encourage your students to answer the question correctly and show the required work. This is shown on the scoring standard for each question (on Stephen’s sample it is in the ruled area directly below the question). Don’t worry about the fine points – what if I say this, instead of that. If your students try to answer and show their work but miss or overlook something, the readers will do their best to follow the student’s work and give him or her the points they have earned.

Why show your students the minimum they can get away with? That does not help them! Do your students a favor: score the review problems more stringently than the readers. If their answer is not quite right, take off some credit and help them learn how to do better. It will help them in the long run.

NCTM AP Calculus Panel Discussion

This is an invitation to everyone attending NCTM Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. Please join us for the annual AP Calculus Panel Discussion.

Date: Saturday April 28, 2018 from 8:00 to 10:30 AM

Location:  Room 159AB in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington D.C.

The tentative speakers are

·         Stephen Davis, chief reader for AP Calculus who will discuss the 2017 exams

·         Stephanie Ogden, from the College Board

·         Karen Hyers member of the calculus development committee

·         Mark Howell long time reader, table leader and author

·         Lin McMullin Moderator of the AP Calculus Community and your host.

After the panel discussion there will be a question and answer period, and a raffle.

No RSVP is necessary. Just come, meet the panelists, and enjoy the discussion.

The panel is sponsored jointly by D & S Marketing System, Inc., Bedford, Freeman and Worth, and HP.

A new Index of Multiple-choice Questions

Once again we have Ted Gott to thank for a new spreadsheet collating each multiple-choice question with the Learning Objective (LO) and the Essential Knowledge (EK) listed in the Course and Exam Description.

Here is the link to the new Type Analysis 2018

And here again is his Free-response Index by topic

THANK YOU, TED !

And Finally

As I’m sure you are aware, the College Board makes past exams available to teachers to use in their class as assignments, on quizzes and tests, and as good review material for the AP exams. To keep students from seeing them the exams are made secure and available only to teachers with an audit for the course. Teachers are not allowed to post them anywhere on-line, even their own web page. They may not let students take them from their classroom.

Alas, the exams are available on-line; students can find them.

The College Board takes this seriously; it is a violation of the College Board’s copyright. The CB’s lawyers contact the person or group who posted them and make them take them down. But more exams pop up. Please, follow the rules and do not post anything. If you or your students do find a secure exam (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, or 2017) please send the URL to me at lnmcmullin@aol.com and I’ll send it to the CB. You may also send it directly to the CB at copyrightviolations@collegeboard.org.

I have little faith that this will keep the exams off-line or keep students from finding them. To that end I refer you to a suggestion I made in a previous post, A Modest Proposal: Don’t count the exams for any sort of grade. Use them only to help students find out what they do not understand.

Schedule of the review notes and questions by type. 

 

 

 

 

 

Applications of integrals, part 1: Areas & Average Value

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Usually the first application of integration is to find the area bounded by a function and the x-axis, followed by finding the area between two functions. We begin with these problems

First some calculator hints

Graphing Integrals using a graphing calculator to graph functions defined by integrals

Graphing Calculator Use  and Definition Integrals – Exam considerations Suggestions for using a calculator efficiently in area/volume problems

Area Problems

Area Between Curves

Under is a Long Way Down How to avoid “negative area.”

Density Functions Not often asked on the AP exams, but a good application related to area, nevertheless.

Who’d a thunk it? Some more complicated area problems for CAS solution.

Improper Integrals and Proper Areas – a BC topic

Average Value

Average Value of a Function

What’s a Mean Old Average Anyway – Discusses the different “average” in calculus

Half-full and Half Empty – Average Value

Average Value Activity to help students discover the Average Value formula

 

 

 

 

 

 

AP Calculus Resources

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So, soon time to start another year – both for you and for me. In my over 200 posts to this blog I’ve discussed a lot of calculus topics in hopes that it may help some of my readers teach or learn about calculus. The problem is that I’ve sort of run out of topics and ideas. Nevertheless, I will write more. I would like your ideas, suggestions, and questions about calculus and teaching calculus. You may email me at lnmcmullin@aol.com. Thanks.

My plans for this year are to point you to some of my previous posts. Each week, to stay ahead of you, I will list links to previous posts that you may find helpful in the next week or two.

This post lists links to resources that AP Calculus teachers should have handy for reference during the year.

  • The Course and Exam Description  This is the official course description from the College Board. The individual list of topics that are tested on the exams (the Concept Outline) begins on page 11 and are listed in the Essential Knowledge (EK) column along with its Big Idea (BI), and Learning Outcome (LO) . Also, you will find the Mathematical Practices (MPACs) starting on page 8. These apply to all the topics. I have posts on each separately: see Mathematical Practices,  MPAC 1, MPAC 2, MPAC 3, MPAC 4, MPAC 5, and MPAC 6. Also, you will find a list of Instructional Approaches that outlines various ideas for use in your classes – and not just your calculus classes. The book also contains sample free-response and multiple-choice questions that show how the MPACs and Essential Knowledge item are related to each question.

 

  • To help you organize all this see my post on Getting Organized using Trello boards. A board listing all the Essential Knowledge and MPAC items are included.

 

  • Another good reference is MC unsecure Index by topic 1998 to 2018. This lists ALL the free-response questions from 1998 to the present (2016). This is an Excel spreadsheet. Each question is referenced to its Key Idea, LO and EK and includes a direct link to the text of the question. Click on the drop-down arrow at the top of each column and choose questions exactly on the EK you want to see. Ted plans to update this after the new multiple-choice questions are released. I will let you know when and where it is available. Thank you again, Ted!  Updated to include the 2017 FRQs. (August 2, 2017)

 

  • I have an index of a different sort. It lists the ten Type Problems and which question, multiple-choice and free-response, that are of each type. You can find it here. This will be updated when the 2017 exams become available.

 

  • The College Board has “home pages” for each course with links and other good information. AB Home Page and BC Home Page.

 

  • Past free-response questions that have been released along with commentary, actual student samples, and data can be found at AB FRQ on AP Central and here BC FRQ on AP Central. Be aware that these are available to anyone including your students.

 

  • Multiple-choice questions from actual exams are also available. The 2012 exam in the blue box on the course home pages (see above). This is open to anyone including students. More recent exams can be found at your audit website under “secure document” on the lower left side. This must be kept confidential because teachers use them for practice exams – they may not be posted on-line, on your school website or elsewhere, or even allowed out of your classroom on paper. Unfortunately, some teachers have not obeyed these rules and the exams can be found online by students with very little effort. Be aware that your students may have access to them. For my suggestion on how to handle that see A Modest Proposal.

 

  • Finally, if you are not already a member, I suggest you join the AP Calculus Community. A of the end of July, we have 15,210 members all interested in AP Calculus. The community has an active bulletin board where you can ask and answer questions about the courses. Teachers and the College Board also post resources for you to use. College Board official announcements are also posted here. I am the moderator of the community and I hope to see you there!

Have a great year!

 

 

NCTM Calculus Panel Notes

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This past week I attended the NCTM Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. For many years now, the sessions included a panel discussion on AP Calculus. This year Stephen Davis, chief reader for AP Calculus, was the principal speaker. I would like to share a few of his comments and insights some of which may help your students on the upcoming exams.

One of the things I recommend in preparing your students for the exam is to go over the directions to both parts of the exam. You should especially explain the three-decimal place rule and the (non-) simplification policy.

This year there will be a slight change in the free-response directions. This change is not a policy change; the change in the wording was made to emphasize what has been the policy for some years. Here is the new wording of the first bullet of the free-response directions with the changes underlined:

Show all your work, even though a question may not explicitly remind you to do so. Clearly label any functions graphs, tables, or other objects that you use. Justifications require that you give mathematical reasons, and that you verify the needed conditions under which relevant theorems, properties, definitions, or tests are applied. Your work will be scored on the correctness and completeness of your methods as well as your answers. Answers without supporting work will usually not receive credit.

For an example of the first underlining sentence, consider 2016 AB 2. This is a linear motion (Type 2) question. Part (a) asks “At time t = 4, is the particle speeding up or slowing down?” According to the scoring standards, two points could be earned for “conclusion with reason.” This means that a correct conclusion of “slowing down” received no credit, because no work was shown. Correct work includes the computation of the velocity and acceleration at t = 4 and indication they since they have different signs the particle is slowing down.

In the same exam, 2016 BC 4 (c) illustrates the second underlined sentence above. This was a L’Hôpital’s Rule question. Just writing

\displaystyle \underset{x\to -1}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\left( \frac{g\left( x \right)-2}{3{{\left( x+1 \right)}^{2}}} \right)=\underset{x\to -1}{\mathop{\lim }}\,\left( \frac{{g}'\left( x \right)}{6\left( x+1 \right)} \right)=-\frac{1}{3}

does not earn the point. Students must indicate that they are using L’Hôpital’s Rule preferably by stating that the limits of the numerators and denominators at each stage are zero.

Another example from 2016 AB 3/BC 3 (Type 3): This problem showed the graph of a function f and asked about the function g defined as g\left( x \right)=\int_{2}^{x}{f\left( t \right)dt}. Students were required to specifically state that {g}'\left( x \right)=f\left( x \right) somewhere, somehow, in some part of the question, showing that they understood the relationship implied by the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.

People started asking questions of the kind they ask on the AP Calculus Community Bulletin Board. They are “what if” questions: What if a student forgets the dx?  What if the student gives open intervals and they should be closed? What if they use the x as the upper limit of integration and in the integrand? What if …? What if …?

Here is a comment I wrote a few days ago for the Community Bulletin board that Stephen was kind enough to mention:

I am sure you teach your students to do the problems correctly, use proper notation, and, even though this is not an English exam, to spell things correctly. You may deduct points in your class for failing to do any of that, or constantly remind them.

As others have pointed out, the readers do their best to give kids the credit they earn and there are not enough points to go around for some mistakes. The procedures for dx and missing parentheses etc. are not something you even need to tell or even mention to your students. Why would you? In scoring the mock exams take off when they make these mistakes. The mock exams should be a little harder than the real thing – that will only help the kids.

To answer your question: students will get full credit on the exams if they do everything right, and sometimes with a little less than everything right. Don’t show your students the minimum they can get away with. They don’t need to know that and it does not help them.

The exceptions are the algebraic and numerical simplifying rules and the three or more-decimal place rule.

A Logistics Graph???

Stephen included slide above in his presentation. It shows the growth in the number of students taking the AP Calculus exams since they first stared in 1956. The AB/BC split first happened in 1969. For years, we have been looking at what looked like exponential growth knowing this wasn’t possible. This kind of growth surely must be logistic since there is an upper limit to the number of students who could take the exam, namely the number of kids in high school.

So, have we reached the point where the numbers start to level off? Or is this just a slight pause such as happened around 1989 and again around 1995? Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

Domain of a Differential Equation

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A reader recently asked me to do a post answering some questions about differential equations:

The 2016 AP Calculus course description now includes a new statement about domain restrictions for the solutions of differential equations. Specifically, EK 3.5A3 states “Solutions to differential equations may be subject to domain restrictions.” [The current 2020 CED uses the same wording in Essential Knowledge statement FUN-7.E.3] Could you write a blog post discussing (1) an example of how to determine the domain restriction; (2) speculating on whether one of the points for the differential equation on the free response will be allotted for specifying the restriction; and (3) speculating whether this concept could appear on the multiple choice and if so how.

First, let me compliment him on noticing EK 3.5A3. I overlooked it and have not seen anyone pick up on this yet. It seems to be a new item in the course description. Don’t panic. In the current 2020 CED EK FUN-7.E.3 says

A single question asking for the domain and range was asked before, but some time ago. Specifically, 2000 AB6 and 2006 AB 5 asked for the domain of the solution of a differential equation (see below for both). These are the only instances I can find that required students to find the domain of the solution. 

Since 2008 many of the scoring standards included the domain, but they were not required to earn any points. These are discussed below. The domains were included in the solution, I suspect, because the standards are made public, and the readers want to publish the most complete answer.

What is required of the domain?

The generally accepted requirements are that the solution of a differential equation must be a function whose domain (1) must be an open interval, (2) on which the differential equation is true, and (3) contains the initial condition. Comments:

  • The interval must be open since derivatives are not defined at the endpoints of intervals. The derivative is a two-sided limit and at an endpoint you can only approach from one side. While one-sided derivatives may be defined, they are a more burdensome requirement and not necessary.
  • Practically speaking, this means that the solution may not cross a vertical asymptote or go through a point where the function is undefined; it must stay on the side where the initial condition is.
  • The differential equation must be true in the sense that substituting the solution and its derivative(s) into the differential equation must result in an identity. (See 2007 AB 4(b) for practice).
  • And of course, the initial condition point’s x-coordinate must be in the domain.

Teachers sometimes ask why we cannot just skip over an asymptote or an undefined point. When you do this, you are then working with a piecewise function. No problems there, but consider that on the piece(s) outside the domain as described above, you could have any function you want and still meet the three requirements above.

Finding the domain.

Here are some examples. Notice that the differential equation, its solution, and the initial condition all come into consideration.

2000 AB 6: After finding the solution y=\frac{1}{2}\ln \left( 2{{x}^{3}}+e \right), finding the domain is a pre-calculus question, requiring one to solve the simple inequality 2{{x}^{3}}+e>0. The domain is \displaystyle x>\sqrt[3]{\frac{-e}{2}}.

2006 AB 5: Will be discussed below in answer to another question he asked.

2008 AB 5: The differential equation is undefined at x = 0 and the initial condition is to the right of this. So, the domain is all positive numbers.

2011 AB5/BC5: The domain is given in the stem; Time starts now and the differential equation applies “for the next 20 years”, so, 0 < x < 20

2013 AB 6: The solution is y=-\ln \left( -{{x}^{3}}+3{{x}^{2}}-1 \right), So the domain is all x such that x = 1 (the initial condition) and for which -{{x}^{3}}+3{{x}^{2}}-1>0. No further simplification was given. By graphing calculator the range is about 0.65270<x<2.89739.

2013 BC 5: The solution, \displaystyle y=-\frac{1}{{{\left( x+1 \right)}^{2}}}, contains a vertical asymptote at x = –1. Since the initial condition is (0, –1) the domain is x > –1; the side of the asymptote containing the initial condition.

2014 AB 6: Neither the equation, nor the solution, \displaystyle y=3-2{{e}^{-\sin \left( x \right)}}, has any values for which x is undefined; so, the domain is all real numbers.

2016 AB 4: The differential equation is \displaystyle \frac{dy}{dx}=\frac{{{y}^{2}}}{x-1} with f(2) = 3. The solution \displaystyle y=\frac{1}{\tfrac{1}{3}-\ln \left( x-1 \right)}, has a vertical asymptote where the denominator is 0, namely x=1+{{e}^{1/3}}, and is undefined (because of the logarithm) for x\le 1. The largest open interval containing the initial condition is between these two values, namely 1<x<1+{{e}^{1/3}}

2017 AB 4: The endpoints of the domain are stated in the stem of the problem. The time t begins when the potato is removed from the oven so t > 0 and the differential equation in (c) is given for  t < 10. So the domain is 0 < t < 10.

2018 AB 6: Both the differential equation and its general solution are defined for all Real numbers: \displaystyle -\infty <x<\infty

All of these require no “calculus”- they are “find the domain” questions from pre-calculus with the concern about vertical asymptotes. There are some other considerations. A longer and far more detailed discussion of this can be found in “The Domain of Solutions to Differential Equations”, by former chief reader Larry Riddle.

I think that answers the first question my reader asked. As to his second and third questions, I guess the answer is yes. At some point students will be asked to state the domain of a differential equation. My guess is it will be a fairly easy one-point part of a free-response question. If solving the differential equation is necessary, then it seems too long for a multiple-choice question. This is all guesswork on my part; I have no knowledge of what’s on future exams.

2019 AB 4: The solution is a polynomial and there valid for all Real numbers.

2021 AB 6: The solution contains a power of e. The domain is all Real numbers.

2021 BC 4: The solution contains terms with ln(x). The domain is all x > 0.

2022 AB 5: The domain is all Real Numbers

My reader also asked about absolute value

Another question that may be related to this topic is the relevancy of the absolute value signs in the solutions to differential equations. When can they be kept in the solution, and when are they redundant?

Absolute values can really confuse kids. See my posts “Absolutely” and “Absolute Value.” Pre-calculus topics, yes, but they come back again and again.

Here are two examples about absolute values and domains:

2005 AB 6: After separating the variables and applying the initial condition we arrive at {{y}^{2}}=-2{{x}^{2}}+3. This is not a function; its graph is an ellipse. We cannot just write y=\pm \sqrt{-2{{x}^{2}}+3}, since that is not a function either. With the initial condition f(1) = –1, we have \sqrt{{{y}^{2}}}=\left| y \right|=-y. Then choose the half of the ellipse where y is negative -y=\sqrt{3-2{{x}^{2}}} and y=-\sqrt{3-2{{x}^{2}}}. The domain is -\sqrt{1.5}<x<\sqrt{1.5}.

2006 AB 5. The initial value question is to solve \displaystyle \frac{dy}{dx}=\frac{1+y}{x},x\ne 0,\text{ and }f\left( -1 \right)=1.

After a few steps we arrive at \left| 1+y \right|=C\left| x \right|. At the initial condition point 1+y>0 and therefore \left| 1+y \right|=1+y. Continuing, we arrive at y=2\left| x \right|-1. For the AP exam, we can stop here, since we have a function and algebraic simplification is not required.

The domain was asked for. Since it is given that x\ne 0, and there are no other “bad” places, the domain must be one side of the y-axis or the other. The initial condition tells us that the domain is to the left of the y-axis, x<0. Since, this is so, \left| x \right|=-x and the solution simplifies to y=-2x-1\text{ and }x<0

I really appreciate questions from readers, so if you want to ask about some topic please ask me at lnmcmullin@aol.com . I’m always looking for new topics to write about – or said a different way, I’m running out of ideas!

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Revised 4-3-18

Revised 12-23-2018 to include the 2017 and 2018 differential equation questions.

Revised 11-23-2020 – 2019 exam

Revised 1-11-2021

Sequences and Series (Type 10 for BC only)

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Convergence tests for series appear on both sections of the BC Calculus exam. In the multiple-choice section, students may be asked to say if a sequence or series converges or which of several series converge.

The Ratio test is used most often to determine the radius of convergence and the other tests to determine the exact interval of convergence by checking the convergence at the end points. Click here for a Convergence test chart students should be familiar with; this list is also on the resource page.

On the free-response section there is usually one full question devoted to sequences and series. This question usually involves writing a Taylor or Maclaurin polynomial for a series.

Students should be familiar with and able to write several terms and the general term of a series. They may do this by finding the derivatives and constructing the coefficients from them, or they may produce the series by manipulating a known or given series. They may do this by substituting into a series, differentiating it or integrating it.

The general form of a Taylor series is \displaystyle \sum\limits_{n=0}^{\infty }{\frac{{{f}^{\left( n \right)}}\left( a \right)}{n!}{{\left( x-a \right)}^{n}}}; if a = 0, the series is called a Maclaurin series.

What Students Should be Able to Do 

  • Use the various convergence tests to determine if a series converges. The test to be used is rarely given so students need to know when to use each of the common tests. For a summary of the tests click: Convergence test chart.
  • Write the terms of a Taylor or Maclaurin series by calculating the derivatives and constructing the coefficients of each term.
  • Distinguish between the Taylor series for a function and the function. Do NOT say that the Taylor polynomial is equal to the function (this will lose a point); say it is approximately equal.
  • Determine a specific coefficient without writing all the previous coefficients.
  • Write a series by substituting into a known series, by differentiating or integrating a known series, or by some other algebraic manipulation of a series.
  • Know (from memory) the Maclaurin series for sin(x), cos(x), ex and \displaystyle \tfrac{1}{1-x} and be able to find other series by substituting into them.
  • Find the radius and interval of convergence. This is usually done by using the Ratio test and checking the endpoints.
  • Be familiar with geometric series, its radius of convergence, and be able to find the number to which it converges, \displaystyle {{S}_{\infty }}=\frac{{{a}_{1}}}{1-r}. Re-writing a rational expression as the sum of a geometric series and then writing the series has appeared on the exam.
  • Be familiar with the harmonic and alternating harmonic series. These are often useful series for comparison.
  • Use a few terms of a series to approximate the value of the function at a point in the interval of convergence.
  • Determine the error bound for a convergent series (Alternating Series Error Bound and Lagrange error bound). See my post of  February 22, 2013.
  • Use the coefficients (the derivatives) to determine information about the function (e.g. extreme values).
  • Understand absolute and conditional convergence. If the series of the absolute values of the terms of a series converges, then the original series is said to absolutely convergent (or converges absolutely). If the series of absolute values diverges, then the original series may (or may not) converge; if it converges it is said to be conditionally convergent.

 

This list is quite long, but only a few of these items can be asked in any given year. The series question on the free-response section is usually quite straightforward. Topics and convergence test may appear on the multiple-choice section. As I have suggested before, look at and work as many past exam questions to get an idea of what is asked and the difficulty of the questions. Click on Power Series in the “Posts by Topic” list on the right side of the screen to see previous posts on Power Series.

The concludes the series of posts on the type questions in review for the AP Calculus exams.

Next Post

Friday April 7, 2017 The Domain of the solution of a differential equation.

 

 

Polar Curves (Type 9 for BC only)

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Ideally, as with parametric and vector functions, polar curves should be introduced and covered thoroughly in a pre-calculus course. Questions on the BC exams have been concerned with calculus ideas related to polar curves. Students have not been asked to know the names of the various curves (rose, curves, limaçons, etc.). The graphs are usually given in the stem of the problem, but students should know how to graph polar curves on their calculator, and the simplest by hand.

What students should know how to do:

  • Calculate the coordinates of a point on the graph,
  • Find the intersection of two graphs (to use as limits of integration).
  • Find the area enclosed by a graph or graphs: Area =\displaystyle A=\tfrac{1}{2}\int_{{{\theta }_{1}}}^{{{\theta }_{2}}}{(r(}θ\displaystyle ){{)}^{2}}dθ
  • Use the formulas x\left( \theta  \right)\text{ }=~r\left( \theta  \right)\text{cos}\left( \theta  \right)~~\text{and}~y\left( \theta  \right)\text{ }=~r(\theta )\text{sin}\left( \theta  \right)~  to convert from polar to parametric form,
  • Calculate \displaystyle \frac{dy}{d\theta } and \displaystyle \frac{dx}{d\theta } (Hint: use the product rule on the equations in the previous bullet).
  • Discuss the motion of a particle moving on the graph by discussing the meaning of \displaystyle \frac{dr}{d\theta } (motion towards or away from the pole), \displaystyle \frac{dy}{d\theta } (motion in the vertical direction) or \displaystyle \frac{dx}{d\theta } (motion in the horizontal direction).
  • Find the slope at a point on the graph, \displaystyle \frac{dy}{dx}=\frac{dy/d\theta }{dx/d\theta }.

This topic appears only occasionally on the free-response section of the exam instead of the Parametric/vector motion question. The most recent on the released exams were in 2007,  2013, 2014, and 2017. If the topic is not on the free-response then 1, or maybe 2 questions, probably finding area, can be expected on the multiple-choice section.

Shorter questions on these ideas appear in the multiple-choice sections. As always, look over as many questions of this kind from past exams as you can find.

Next post:

Tuesday April 4: For BC Sequences and Series.

Friday April 7, 2017 The Domain of the solution of a differential equation.

 

 

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