try not to go to the calculator for easy calculations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nsuppose you’re working on a problem and the quantity 82<\/sup> comes up. if you have to pick up the calculator to figure out that 82<\/sup> = (8)(8) = 64, then you’ve just lost 5 seconds.<\/p>\nnow that may not sound like much, but considering that each multiple choice problem should take no more than 2 minutes, those 5 seconds really do make a difference!<\/p>\n
dealing with fractions<\/h2>\n it goes without saying that you should be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers. most ap calculus students have no difficulty with these operations… except<\/em> when it comes to fractions.<\/p>\nthe rules for working with fractions are just a little more involved.<\/p>\n
for example, when adding or subtracting fractions, you must have a common denominator<\/strong>. for instance, 2\/5 + 7\/8 is not<\/strong> equal to 9\/13. instead, \nfind the common denominator, 5 \u00d7 8 = 40, and re-express each fraction.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
remember, multiplication of fractions is fairly easy: just multiply across the top and across the bottom. dividing by a fraction involves taking the reciprocal<\/strong> of the bottom fraction and then multiplying.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
powers and roots<\/h2>\n another area that seems to cause problems is in working with powers and roots.<\/p>\n
remember that a power (or exponent) stands for repeated multiplication, and a root is the inverse operation for a power. for example, \n <\/p>\n
often students will get confused when negative numbers are involved. here’s a handy chart to help you out. <\/p>\n
logarithms<\/h2>\n finally, let’s talk logarithms. you may say that logs are part of algebra, not arithmetic, but i prefer to think of them as just another operation that you can do with numbers. plus, they’re just really cool!<\/p>\nlogarithms can be beautiful! the nautilus shell grows in the shape of a logarithmic spiral.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\na logarithm allows you to isolate a power. for example, if you wanted to know what power of two would give you 1024, then you could phrase it as a logarithm problem:<\/p>\n
log2<\/sub> 1024 = ?<\/p>\ni bet you could figure this one out. count up the powers of two: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024. aha! the tenth number in the list is exactly 1024, so<\/p>\n
log2<\/sub> 1024 = 10.<\/p>\nwell, what if the number did not show up in the list? for example, what about log2<\/sub> 997 ? well, that’s when your calculator can come to the rescue. nevertheless, you could still reason that the value of log2<\/sub> 997 is something between 9 and 10 without even touching your calculator!<\/p>\nof course, there’s much more to know about logarithms. check out the following link for a good review: ap calculus review: properties of exponents and roots<\/a><\/p>\nconclusion<\/h2>\n it’s essential to know your arithmetic for the ap calculus exams, whether working on a section that allows a calculator or not. review fractions, exponents, and logarithms especially, as these topics seems to give us the most trouble.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
what does arithmetic have to do with the ap calculus exam? click here to find out why it’s so important to have all the basics down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":223,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[240],"tags":[241],"ppma_author":[24932],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
ap calculus exam: arithmetic review - magoosh blog | high school<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n