[Kizoku]

Hello! I'm going to take my AP BC Calculus exam next Wednesday, and my AP Physics B exam two Mondays from now.

I was wondering what the most helpful, concise, and easy to understand calculator programs you have or had for these AP exams.

It would be really helpful if I could get the 0s of functions, get tangent lines easily, integrals, and derivatives in case I run out of time.
Same goes for AP Physics B, if there are any, even though calculators are only allowed on Open Response.

Also I actually can't get the integral function on my calculator to work, but I'm thinking maybe I've been doing it all wrong this time.

Thanks! I'm running out of time and have been in and out, so links and short tutorials would be nice!

I have a TI-84 Silver Edition!

[jimsayskabloh]

Isn't that considered cheating?
I took the AB test last year and we were told to clear our calculators.

[Kizoku]

Oh, really?
As far as I know about the BC exam, there are parts in which the graphing calculator is REQUIRED. And my teacher has avidly encouraged us to find some programs to make things easier in case you run out of time. Also, we took mock exams (that you chose to individually attend to, outside of the school) and she gave us a few programs, Euler's Method and Slope Fields.

[azngirl1114]

idk how u can get the exact derivatives and stuff...but for the answers after plugging in the variable, just graph and press 2nd+trace and pick w/e u need to find and set the bounds and press enter.

[Yuenie]

Derivatives or antiderivatives, there are no programs for those. You gotta do them by hand.

Zeros you find by pressing 2nd --> CALC --> zero

Finding tangent lines are part of finding the derivative, so no calculator function for that either.

Integrals you can use MATH --> 9: fnInt( --> and type it in like fnInt((formula),x,a,b ). But if you have a messy integral formula then its better to just do it by hand because the millions of brackets while typing the formula in can mess you up and then the answer won't come out.

There's a calculator program for RRAM, MRAM and LRAM stuff but honestly it's easy w/o the program too.

Overall the calc test, the less you use the calculator the better. Not many shortcuts on it, especially for the part of the test where it's no calculators allowed.

[Alexiel]

Just get a TI-89 if you want to do integrals and derivatives, lol.

[Yuenie]

^ TI-89s aren't allowed for SATs or APs sadly

Edit: Maybe there are programs for derivatives? I don't know if it actually provides the derivative formula itself or just the solution with a given range. But here's a list of all sorts of calculus calculator programs you could download: click here

Now if there was some calculator program for related rates problem then I would be set. D:

[Kizoku]

Ok, thanks...I tried doing the integral thing on mine, it NEVER works. :/

I've downloaded some of those and need to delete some useless ones that don't even work on my calc. I just wanted to know if anyone had specific ones they wanted to share.

But thank you so much!

I saw on a Free Response, to get full credit, one needed to state the limits, an integral, and have an answer, and it was calculated. :/

[mkayimcherry]

^ TI-89s aren't allowed for SATs or APs sadly

where did you hear this? because i've been looking through the collegeboard site and they're okay with it. the only calculators they don't allow are ones that have a qwerty keyboard o.o;; i used it on my SAT too.

Care is taken to ensure that the exam questions do not favor students who use graphing calculators with more extensive built-in features.

[azngirl1114]

well, u can find definite answers for derivatives and integrals only by graphing and pressing 2nd trace, then # 6 or # 7
you just can't find the indefinite equations,functions,etc with the graphs

[lollipoop]

I'm taking the exam too! I was wondering if someone who took it last year can give us some tips. I'm really nervous about the FR part because whenever I have to show work...no one really understands what I write, and if we have to do a small definition thing, no one really understands what I mean either. I'm a bad explainer and I make things overtly complicated. X__X
If I ace the multiple choice part, how high do I need to score on the FR part to get a 4-5? For World History, my friend says that you only need to ace the multiple choice part and get a decent score on the written part to get a 5. Hopefully it's the same for BC, tee hee.

[Yuenie]

where did you hear this? because i've been looking through the collegeboard site and they're okay with it. the only calculators they don't allow are ones that have a qwerty keyboard o.o;; i used it on my SAT too.

All guidebooks and rules stuff for SATs and ACTs I've encountered all said you can't use TI-89s at the testing centers lol.....o_o

Edit: I googled it and guess they are allowed.... Somehow people have always been telling me the message that you can't use ti-89s. I have a friend who uses a ti-89 but I remember for some exams she had to borrow a ti-84 because she wasn't allowed to use the 89.

[Alexiel]

TI-89s are allowed on the AP Calculus exams but not on the SAT/ACT.

[azn_chick91]

wait a minute, there are programs for certain stuff? i did NOT know that LOL

anyways, i think i'm gonna end up with a three on this test T.T
we've been reviewing for the past month and on all the practice tests and stuff i've been taking so far, i've always gotten a 3 on them >.<

*sigh* very depressing, but i'm gonna study my butt off before the test >.<

[azngirl1114]

I'm taking the exam too! I was wondering if someone who took it last year can give us some tips. I'm really nervous about the FR part because whenever I have to show work...no one really understands what I write, and if we have to do a small definition thing, no one really understands what I mean either. I'm a bad explainer and I make things overtly complicated. X__X
If I ace the multiple choice part, how high do I need to score on the FR part to get a 4-5? For World History, my friend says that you only need to ace the multiple choice part and get a decent score on the written part to get a 5. Hopefully it's the same for BC, tee hee.

idk but on the Calc AB last year, i think i aced the multiple choice and left 1/2 or a bit over 1/2 of the free response blank...like completely blank. and i ended up w/ a 4. not even sure if the ones i answered were correct. now i know why ppl study for AP calc. i didn't know we were supposed to study for them. teacher made class seem like a piece of cake and assured as that it wasn't going to be really hard.after i looked at the free response, i was in shock b/c of the difficulty lol.

[Kizoku]

Btw, I finally evaluated limits on my TI-84. Whew. I messed up the parentheses and was confused when I got "ERROR: ARGUMENT" (or something) instead of an error on syntax. MATH > fnInt( > (function) > x (means with respect to x) > lower limit > upper limit ). Something like that. But yeah, it worked.

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Well, if you check out the college board free response that they give out every year after a test, you will see that you do not have to integrate the integrands. Also, as I mentioned before, my teacher gave us programs for Euler's and Slope Fields.

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testin...us_bc/samp.html

Go to the Solutions links on the bottom and you will see the grading system. Some of these sections REQUIRE graphing calculators, to find the boundaries, limits, etc. For the first problem for 2008, an integrand, limits, and answer were all you needed to get full credit. PLUS there's a little calculator symbol.