Understanding Calculus: Problems, Solutions, and Tips

Calculus is the mathematics of change, a field with many important applications in science, engineering, medicine, business, and other disciplines. Begin by surveying the goals of the series. Then get your feet wet by investigating the classic tangent line problem, which illustrates the concept of limits.

In the first of two review episodes on precalculus, examine graphs of equations and properties such as symmetry and intercepts. Also explore the use of equations to model real life and begin your study of functions, which Professor Edwards calls the most important concept in mathematics.

Continue your review of precalculus by looking at different types of functions and how they can be identified by their distinctive shapes when graphed. Then review trigonometric functions, using both the right triangle definition as well as the unit circle definition, which measures angles in radians rather than degrees.

Jump into real calculus by going deeper into the concept of limits introduced in the first episode. Learn the informal, working definition of limits and how to determine a limit in three different ways: numerically, graphically, and analytically. Also discover how to recognize when a given function does not have a limit.

Broadly speaking, a function is continuous if there is no interruption in the curve when its graph is drawn. Explore the three conditions that must be met for continuity, along with applications of associated ideas, such as the greatest integer function and the intermediate value theorem.

Infinite limits describe the behavior of functions that increase or decrease without bound, in which the asymptote is the specific value that the function approaches without ever reaching it. Learn how to analyze these functions, and try some examples from relativity theory and biology.