<p>Hi,</p>
<p>What formulas will be given on the AP Calculus BC exam, and what formulas will not be given?
Do we need to memorize all the derivatives of trig functions?
I can never seem to get all those crazy trig derivatives in my head! Every time I practice on doing derivative problems, I always need to consult my formula sheet, which tells me what all the derivatives are.
Inverse trig derivatives are worse!
How could you memorize all these ugly, crazy trig derivatives?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I'm having the same problem. Taking derivatives of non-trig functions like (ln x) is not that difficult, but when it comes to taking trig derivatives, I always have to look at my formula sheet.</p>
<p>I don't believe that any formulas will be given, save weird volume formulas for spheres for related rates. I'd concentrate on knowing the basic 3 (sin/cos/tan), then the sec/csc/cot. My teacher said that we should know the inverse trig functions, but they won't be as helpful as the first 6.</p>
<p>It's definitely worth memorizing the derivatives of trig functions, but if you have to, you should be able to derive everything else from the derivatives of sine and cosine without too much difficulty.</p>
<p>Thanks for your posts, lildude and rhapsody. I almost mastered the basic 3 (sin/cos/tan) and sec/csc/cot, but it's hard to memorize inverse trig derivatives... Should I just ignore those inverse trig derivatives and focus on the basic six derivatives? (I'm not worrying about non-trig derivatives like (ln x) bkiersted mentioned above, I'm comfortable with them now) What if the AP exam tests you on those inverse trig derivatives?</p>
<p>It's been a while since I took the AP exam, but I remember that they were definitely tested. They were a fairly minor part of the exam, though, so you can probably get by without knowing them. I'd suggest that you make sure know the regular trig derivatives first, and then memorize the derivatives of inverse trig functions if you have any time left.</p>
<p>Rhapsody: Thanks for the reply. Are there any memory devices that can promote efficient and effective memorization of those ugly inverse trig derivatives?</p>
<p>TI-89 baby!!! It will be your best friend</p>
<p>DeltaRoyale: Thanks for the suggestion, but the AP exam allows only a limited amount of time on using a calculator.</p>
<p>My teacher said that she is 99% sure that any question directly testing derivative formulas will be on a noncalculator portion of the test. It'd be too easy just to punch it into your calculator and get an answer for a calculator section question.</p>
<p>One can derive derivatives pretty quickly, if the need comes up.</p>
<p>In order to find trig derivatives QUICKLY (because from what I understand, time is crucial) you need to have seen it before. You don't need to be able to recreate it perfectly, but know all the steps and how it works, and you could quickly go over it mentally and remember. Most likely after that you will know them anyway.</p>