Mathematics Math ematics Descri Describing bing the Real World: Wo rld: Precalculus Precalculus and Trigo rigonometr nometry y by
(Biography Biography)) Bruce H. Edwards (
The following materials are provided The p rovided to enhance enhance your learning learning experience. experie nce. Click th the e links li nks below for free information including including a professor-auth professor-authored ored course summary, summary, recommended web links, and a conden co ndensed sed biblio b ibliography graphy.. Course Summary - Professor's Professo r's written description descriptio n of the the course. Professor Recommended Links Condensed Bibliograp Bi bliography hy - Prepared Prepa red by the the professor professo r for this this cour co urse. se.
Course Summary The goal The go al of this course is i s for you to appreci ate the beautiful and and practical prac tical subject of precalcu preca lculu lus. s. You will see how precalculus plays a fundamental role in all of science and engineering, as well as business and a nd economics. As the name "precalcul "prec alculus" us" indicates, indica tes, a thorough knowledge knowledge of this material is crucial for the study of calculus, and in my many years of teaching, I have found that success in calculus is assured if students have a strong background in precalculus. The principal topics in precalculus are algebra and trigonometry. In fact, at many universities and high schools, the title of the course is Algebra and Trigonometry. However, precalculus covers much mu ch more: logarithms and exponents, exponents, systems of linear equations, e quations, matrices, conic co nic sections, sec tions, counting coun ting methods methods and probability probab ility,, sequences and series, seri es, parametric pa rametric equations, eq uations, and and polar po lar coordinates. coordi nates. We will look at all these these topics topi cs and their their applicati ap plications ons to real-world real-world problems. Our study of precalculus will be presented in the same order as a university-level precalculus course. The The material is based on the the 5th edition edi tion of the the bestsellin be stselling g textbook Precalculus: A Graphing Approach by Approach by Ron Larson and Bruce H. Edwards (Houghton Mifflin, 2008). However, any standard precalculus textbook can be used for reference and support throughout the course. Please see the bibliograp bi bliography hy for an annotated annotated list of o f appropriate approp riate supplementary tex textbooks. tbooks. We will begin our study of precalculus with a course overview and a brief look at functions. The concept of functions is fundamental in all of mathematics and will be a constant theme throughout the course. We will study all kinds of important and interesting functions: polynomial, rational, exponent exponential, ial, logarith logari thmic, mic, trigonometric, trig onometric, and parametric, to name a few. As we progress prog ress through the course, most concepts will be introduced using illustrative examples. All the important theoretic theoretical al ideas ide as and theorems will be presented, but we will not not dwell on their their technical techn ical proofs. You will find that it is easy to understand and apply precalculus to real-world problems without knowing know ing these theoretical int i ntricaci ricacies. es. Graphing calculators calculators and comput co mputers ers are playin playing g an an increasing role ro le in the mathematics classroom. classroo m. Without a doubt, graphing technology technology can enhance the understanding of precalculus; hence, we will often use technology to verify and confirm our results. You are encouraged to use all course materials to their maximum benefit, including the video lectures, which you can review as many times as you wish; the individual lecture summaries and accompanying accompanyin g problems pro blems in the workbook; and the supporting materials materia ls in the back of o f the workbook, such as the solutions to all problems, the glossary, and the review sheets of key theorems and formulas in algebra and trigonometry. Good luck in your study of precalculus! I hope you enjoy these lectures as much as I did preparing prepari ng them. them. Return To Top
Professor Recommended Links
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/classroom/classes/Pre-Calculus.html http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Trigonometry.html http://www.themathpage.com/aprecalc/precalculus.htm Return To Top
Condensed Bibliography These selected titles from the reading list are now available on Amazon.com. Click on a title for more information and/or to order the title.
Algebra 2. Saxon, J A strong supportive text for the course. Real-world problems are included along with applications to other subjects such as physics and chemistry.
Algebra 2, 5th ed.. Boswell, L et al. This is a comprehensive intermediate algebra text with excellent coverage of many different topics, including a good section on matrix algebra. Real-world applications are plentiful and each chapter has many problems with solutions at the back of the book. Calculus, 9th ed.. Edwards, B and Larson, L. A leading calculus textbook at both universities and high schools. Many of the calculus applications covered in this course are developed in this best-selling textbook.
Precalculus: A Graphing Approach, 5th ed. . Edwards, B et al. This textbook provides a thorough coverage of precalculus. The book encourages the use of graphing technology. These Great Courses lectures are based on this best-selling textbook.
In some cases the only available book from Amazon is a newer edition than the one used by the professor. The edition used by the professor may be available on the used market. Return To Top
