Book description
Slay the calculus monster with this user-friendly guide
Calculus For Dummies, 2nd Edition makes calculus manageable—even if you're one of the many students who sweat at the thought of it. By breaking down differentiation and integration into digestible concepts, this guide helps you build a stronger foundation with a solid understanding of the big ideas at work. This user-friendly math book leads you step-by-step through each concept, operation, and solution, explaining the "how" and "why" in plain English instead of math-speak. Through relevant instruction and practical examples, you'll soon learn that real-life calculus isn't nearly the monster it's made out to be.
Calculus is a required course for many college majors, and for students without a strong math foundation, it can be a real barrier to graduation. Breaking that barrier down means recognizing calculus for what it is—simply a tool for studying the ways in which variables interact. It's the logical extension of the algebra, geometry, and trigonometry you've already taken, and Calculus For Dummies, 2nd Edition proves that if you can master those classes, you can tackle calculus and win.
Includes foundations in algebra, trigonometry, and pre-calculus concepts
Explores sequences, series, and graphing common functions
Instructs you how to approximate area with integration
Features things to remember, things to forget, and things you can't get away with
Stop fearing calculus, and learn to embrace the challenge. With this comprehensive study guide, you'll gain the skills and confidence that make all the difference. Calculus For Dummies, 2nd Edition provides a roadmap for success, and the backup you need to get there.
Table of contents
-
- Introduction
- Part I: An Overview of Calculus
-
Part II: Warming Up with Calculus Prerequisites
- Chapter 4: Pre-Algebra and Algebra Review
- Chapter 5: Funky Functions and Their Groovy Graphs
- Chapter 6: The Trig Tango
- Part III: Limits
-
Part IV: Differentiation
- Chapter 9: Differentiation Orientation
- Chapter 10: Differentiation Rules — Yeah, Man, It Rules
-
Chapter 11: Differentiation and the Shape of Curves
-
Taking a Calculus Road Trip
- Climb every mountain, ford every stream: Positive and negative slopes
- I can’t think of a travel metaphor for this section: Concavity and inflection points
- This vale of tears: A local minimum
- A scenic overlook: The absolute maximum
- Car trouble: Teetering on the corner
- It’s all downhill from here
- Your travel diary
- Finding Local Extrema — My Ma, She’s Like, Totally Extreme
- Finding Absolute Extrema on a Closed Interval
- Finding Absolute Extrema over a Function’s Entire Domain
- Locating Concavity and Inflection Points
- Looking at Graphs of Derivatives Till They Derive You Crazy
- The Mean Value Theorem — GRRRRR
-
Taking a Calculus Road Trip
- Chapter 12: Your Problems Are Solved: Differentiation to the Rescue!
- Chapter 13: More Differentiation Problems: Going Off on a Tangent
-
Part V: Integration and Infinite Series
- Chapter 14: Intro to Integration and Approximating Area
- Chapter 15: Integration: It’s Backwards Differentiation
- Chapter 16: Integration Techniques for Experts
- Chapter 17: Forget Dr. Phil: Use the Integral to Solve Problems
- Chapter 18: Taming the Infinite with Improper Integrals
- Chapter 19: Infinite Series
-
Part VI: The Part of Tens
- Chapter 20: Ten Things to Remember
- Chapter 21: Ten Things to Forget
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Chapter 22: Ten Things You Can’t Get Away With
- Give Two Answers on Exam Questions
- Write Illegibly on Exams
- Don’t Show Your Work on Exams
- Don’t Do All of the Exam Problems
- Blame Your Study Partner for Low Grade
- Tell Your Teacher You Need an “A” in Calculus to Impress Your Significant Other
- Claim Early-Morning Exams Are Unfair Because You’re Not a “Morning Person”
- Protest the Whole Idea of Grades
- Pull the Fire Alarm During an Exam
- Use This Book as an Excuse
- About the Author
- Cheat Sheet
- More Dummies Products
Product information
- Title: Calculus For Dummies, 2nd Edition
- Author(s):
- Release date: June 2014
- Publisher(s): For Dummies
- ISBN: 9781118791295
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