Review of Precalculus
This is a review of precalculus for all students taking Calculus I and II.
There are pairs of two-hour review sessions in the Math Lab covering
these problems in the second
and third weeks of each semester. This does not cover all topics taught in our
Precalculus course, but targets problems related directly to techniques
needed in Calculus.
The following are examples from Cohen's Precalculus with Unit Circle
Trigonometry Third Edition, Brooks/Cole publisher. This is the textbook
used in Lehman's precalculus course. It is available on reserve in the
library.
Try the problems without looking at the solutions and then read the complete
example.
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Graphing, lines and factoring: (60 minutes in the review session)
1.3/ Example 1b, Example 5a
2.2/ Example 3, Example 7
2.3/ Example 9
-
Functions, Iteration and Inverses: (50 minutes in the review session)
3.1 Example 7
3.4/ Example 5
3.5/ Example 1, Example 5
-
Trigonometry: (80 minutes in the review session)
6.2/ Example 1
6.4/ Example 6
6.5/ Example 2
8.1/ Example 2, Example 3
8.2/ Example 1
-
Exponentials and Logs and Absolute Values: (30 minutes)
5.1/ Example 4
5.5/Example 6
1.2/ Example 6c
It is recommended that if anyone has any difficulties with
one or two of these problems that they read the entire section in
Cohen's book and try some homework problems with a tutor at the
math lab. Students who have difficulties with many of the problems
should drop calculus and audit or register for Precalculus.
It is difficult to get a good grade in Calculus without a strong
understanding of precalculus.