On the first day I went into calculus class and we started going over everything that we had to do and be prepared for, I thought i was going to fail. Math is Not my best subject and i struggle with it. But after a few days in the class i realized that i am going to be fine and that i will learn the concepts and will be able to make good grades in this class. Sure, there are still a few things that i'm not totally getting right now, but i will learn it and be able to grasp the concepts after a little more practice.
I'm excited that i actually am starting to get derivitives. When i first saw all those formulas i thought there was no way i was going to be able to remember all of those. But once we started going over the easy ones first.. i felt better. Like the rule that states if you have just a number, then the derivitive is 0. Or the rule that says if you have something like 5x^3, to take the derivitive, you would multiply the 3 and the 5 to get the number in front, and then you would subtract one from the three to give you 2. the final answer would be 15x^2. I'm even starting to get a better grasp on the cos and sin formulas as well. The derivitive of sin is consu x u^1 and the cos formula is -sinu x u^1.
There are a few things that i am still struggling with though. I sort of get the product rule, but when you combine it with hard numbers like 3 square root of t(t^2 + 4). The 3 and the square root throw me off the most. As far as the quotient rule goes, i think i have a pretty good handle on it but on problems like 3 square root of x / x^3 +1.. i get confused on what the do with the top. i know you have to make the radical into a fraction but i don't understand what happens after that. As far as those hard ones go, i believe i have a pretty good handle on these.
I am looking forward to having a great year in calculus this year and i'm excited about having the chance to get college credit by taking the AP exam. I believe this class will help me with understanding my math more and helping me be more successful in math. I know my friends and B-rob are there to help me if i get stuck and need help. I am looking forward to having a great year with all of you :)
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Trina,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear some things are starting to make sense for you! Great reflection. We are all here and willing to work together! I think that is why we have such success on the AP Exam. We all work together to help everyone.
For the quotient rule, you said you get confused with what to do whenever you have something like 3 square root of x. Well, if you ever have a square root, it's a lot easier if you just make it into a fraction. So that would turn into x^1/3. After that you would just take the derivative of x^1/3, and you just follow the rules brob gave us for how to take derivatives of things with exponents. Just multiply 1/3 times the coefficient, which is 1. Then subtract one from your exponent. So your answer would be 1/3x^-2/3
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