Calculus comparison

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

<p>How are you guys so good at math that you can do calc your freshman or sophomore years (I'm not being accusatory or anything, just trying to figure it out)? With my schedule I had (beginning in the 8th grade and progressing each year until calc my senior year) algebra 1, geometry, algebra II, Pre-calc, calc...that's typical right? Do you guys take more than one math class/ school year? Have you guys already done all those classes by your sophomore year?
It's hard for me to understand...my class is really smart from what I can tell (most got national merit commended or higher, we dominate academic meets, and our average SAT is well into the 2100s, plus we own our AP tests in other subjects...we haven't taken any math ones) but we do terrible in calc as seniors (the class I mean). I was happy to get a 50 on our last quiz, beating most people in the class (and that's normal for our grades in calc). Does anyone have any ideas as to why there's such a difference...wait, I'll post some problems from our last quiz. Are these pretty easy? I tried to write them clearly.</p>

<p>1) find the average value of the function y= 12 over ((36-16x^2)^(1/2)) over the interval from x=0 to x=3/4</p>

<p>2) ln(cos(lnx))...find the derivative</p>

<p>3) solve the initial value problem: dy/dx = 2 over (1+x^2), y(0)=3</p>

<p>4)find the derivative. y= sinxlog(subscript5)x</p>

<p>5) locate and identify the absolute extreme values of y=ln(sinx) on [pi/6, 3pi/4]</p>

<p>6)find the derivative of y with respectt ot the independent variable: y=2^((cos)(pi)(theta))</p>

<p>7) Find dy/dx: lny=(e^y)(cos4x)</p>

<p>8)find the equation for thel ine through the origin and tangent to y=ln5x</p>

<p>9)find the derivative of y with respect to x: y=(sin^-1)(e^(4t))</p>

<p>10) The amount of alcohol in the bloodstream, A, declines at a rate proportional to the amount, that is, dA/dt = -kA. If k = 0.5 for a particular person, how long will it take for his alcohol concentration to decrease from 0.10% to 0.05%? Give your answer to the nearest tenth of an hour.</p>

2

<p>Kids these days just don't understand calculus. :(</p>

3

<p>Calculus is just a difficult class. It's different from other math courses, which hits people hard.</p>

<p>And to take Calculus sophomore year, my schedule went like this.</p>

<p>8th Geometry
8th Summer Alg 2
9th Precal
10th Calculus</p>

4

<p>I actually found Calculus rather simple. I took BC as a sophomore got an A+ in th e class and a 5 on the AP exam. I was able to take the class during my sophomore year mainly because I skipped a math grade in middle school (algebra). So I took geometry in 7th, algebra 2 in 8th, and precalc in 9th. I had a really awesome precalc teacher who essentially outlined derivatives and integrations by the end of the course so whatever I learned in BC was relatively easy. (If you have a strong math background, it's actually very similar to other classes)</p>

<p>I'm currently taking statistics which I find a tad harder than Calculus, mainly because it does not expand upon previous mathematics knowledge.</p>

<p>Last year my Calculus BC class had 3 sophs including me, 7 juniors and 1 senior. There were roughly 6-7 5's, 1 3, and the rest were 4's.</p>