When am I ready for calculus?

[math@heart]

Due to factors that were beyond my control I did not learn math when I was in high school. I have spent the last two years studying math (algebra, geometry, trigonometry and pre-calculus) in my free time. I want very much to study calculus, with all of my heart in fact, and I have purchased lots of great books on the subject, but my math anxiety has the best of me and I sincerely don't know when I will be ready to start studying calculus. Despite doing countless problems and writing detailed notes, I can't say that I have mastered trigonometry. I cannot recall the formulas by heart. I'm afraid that if I move on to calculus without mastering trigonometry that I am going to fail. That being said, I can't wait much longer to begin studying calculus for practical reasons. I don't know what to do. Thank you for helping me to break out of this intellectual stalemate.

 

[R.M.]

Most calculus textbooks have an introductory chapter with a review of algebra. If there is a used bookstore in your area, see if they have an used calculus textbooks and thumb through that opening chapter. Or go to amazon and see if you can 'look inside'; likely it will show that opening chapter. You can also find several online calculus books as well. If that opening chapter has material that you feel comfortable with, then you are probably ready.

What I would consider 'minimum' trigonometry' for calculus:
- be comfortable with the unit circle
- understand radian measure
- know the 'Pythagorean' identity (sin²x + cos²x = 1)
- understand the inverse sine and cosine functions

 

[math@heart]

Thank you very much for your response.

 

[lev888]

Due to factors that were beyond my control I did not learn math when I was in high school. I have spent the last two years studying math (algebra, geometry, trigonometry and pre-calculus) in my free time. I want very much to study calculus, with all of my heart in fact, and I have purchased lots of great books on the subject, but my math anxiety has the best of me and I sincerely don't know when I will be ready to start studying calculus. Despite doing countless problems and writing detailed notes, I can't say that I have mastered trigonometry. I cannot recall the formulas by heart. I'm afraid that if I move on to calculus without mastering trigonometry that I am going to fail. That being said, I can't wait much longer to begin studying calculus for practical reasons. I don't know what to do. Thank you for helping me to break out of this intellectual stalemate.

If you studied prerequisits for 2 years just give it a try. It's not like you are jumping into a deep pool not knowing whether you can swim well enough. Just do it. If you find it difficult, identify the areas you need to come back to and study those some more.
Regarding trig formulas - it's good to know them by heart, but what's important is to know which functions are related. When solving problems you can look up the exact formula, but first you need to know that there is a formula that allows you to replace, e.g. sin²x with an expression containing cos²x.

 

[math@heart]

Thank you. That makes sense.

 

[Steven G]

There is actually not that much trig which you need to know for Calculus 1. Definitely know the definition of the 6 trig functions and the already mentioned pythagorean identity. You can relearn the other needed formulas as they come up but again it will not be much. In my opinion, it is much more important that you know your precalculus and algebra to survive calculus. Go ahead and jump into calculus. If you need help, then come back here!

 

[JeffM]

Math is not about memorizing formulas. You memorize the ones you use frequently and derive or look up the others. Look at this pdf.

Trigonometry to Memorize, and Trigonometry to Derive

I have attached a pdf document containing the vast majority of trigonometry I have needed to know on a working basis. The first page consists of trigonometry I think everyone should have memorized. I have never needed to have anything more than the first sheet memorized for any application. The...

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