<p>Hey. I want to take the AP Calculus Exam next may but I have never taken trig (have taken Alg II). So I was wondering if there is a good book out there with practice that can help me learn the subject. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>just borrow a precalc book from your library. that textbook is bound to have trig topics.</p>
<p>Trigonometry CAN be complicated, but what you need for the AP calculus exam is pretty basic. Like jerry4445 said, any precalc textbook should work just fine.</p>
<p>I would jump right into Calculus. There is not much you need to know beyond the unit circle and special trig identities for Calculus. They shouldn’t take more than 1-14 days to learn.</p>
<p>For instance, Larson’s Calculus has a sheet at the front that lists the main topics of trig you will be using. </p>
<p>Google these, and you should be pretty set:
-Be able to fill in a unit circle*
-Reciprocal Identities
-Tangent and Cotangent Identities
-Pythagorean Identities
-Sum and Difference Formulas
-Double-Angle Formulas
-Power-Reducing Formulas</p>
<p>Those are some common ones that I used. I may have left something out, but you can learn it as you go.</p>
<p>*There are many programs for the TI83/84 that can help in calculus, check ticalc.org
*If you can use a TI89, it will be even easier.</p>
<p>You made the right choice, as pre-calc isn’t needed if you are comfortable with math.</p>
<p>Okay, calculus has barely any trig in it - you may just need too memorize differentiation and integration rules for trig functions, but not conceptual trigonometry.</p>
<p>the most that could be asked of you conceptually is what you learned in geometry class such SOHCAHTOA, because I took the BC exam this past year and there was a question about the angle a diver makes when he enters the water and I geometrically gleaned that tan (theta) = -dy/dx so thats bascially it - with practice you’ll be fine</p>
<p>No need to do trig, go straight in.</p>
<p>Don’t you post on SDN too, jefgreen?</p>
<p>Trig is easy. Only a section of Calc even involves trig (and guess what that section is in a Calc book, “Trigonometric Functions”). Anyway, just rent a “Learn Trig Fast” book from the library and read it. There you go.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t understand. Do you know Calculus, but not Trig? or are you taking a Calc class next year? I mean, you will learn everything you need to in the calc class.</p>
<p>I don’t know trig. I’m studying Calc on my own and taking the BC Exam next May. I just want to be prepared. I’ve taken Algebra II.</p>
<p>and yes I post on SDN as well, Lawlz.</p>
<p>Ok, I see. So you haven’t done pre-calc? I’m surprised your Alg 2 class didn’t go over some trig (but mine was Advanced Algebra and Trigonometry). Ya, I would just get a book from the library. Trig is not hard at all, so it should be easy. Have fun self-studying though, that should be interesting.</p>
<p>I took Honors Algebra II in high school, and basically it taught you algebra II and pre-calc so I don’t even know what the difference lol, but yeah I guess you can find a trig textbook somewhere in the library</p>
<p>^^To be honest Stimulus, I don’t really know the difference either and I took the class. It basically reteaches much of Alg 2 but adds in limits and derivatives (at least my class). That’s it though.</p>
<p>At my school, precalculus reteaches all of algebra 2 and teaches trigonometry. My algebra 2 class barely scratches the surface of trig. (The textbook technically goes into the unit circle and identities, but nobody ever covers that.)</p>
<p>^^hm… my Alg 2 class basically taught us all of trig, but it was Alg 2 and Trig.</p>
<p>Trig really isn’t hard. I basically learned everything myself. The only things that weren’t straightforward were identities (but then again, you can’t really have someone teach you how to do those) and parametric equations (my textbook explained it awfully, but my teacher did a great job with it).</p>