I have always had the impression that the AP exam assumed that parametric equations and vectors were first studied and developed in a pre-calculus course. In fact, many schools do just that. It would be nice if students knew all about these topics when they started BC calculus. Because of time considerations, this very rich…
A question on the AP Calculus Community bulletin board this past Sunday inspired me to write this brief outline of what the derivatives of parametric equations mean and where they come from. The Position Equation or Position Vector A parametric equation gives the coordinates of points (x, y) in the plane as functions of a…
A few weeks ago I covered some trigonometry classes for another teacher. They were studying polar and parametric graphs and the common curves limaçon, rose curves, cardioids, etc. I got to thinking about these curves. the next few posts will discuss what I learned. To help me see what was happening I made a Winplot…
AP Type Questions 8 Particle moving on a plane for BC – the parametric/vector question. I have always had the impression that the AP exam assumed that parametric equations and vectors were first studied and developed in a pre-calculus course. In fact many schools do just that. It would be nice if students knew all…
