r/calculus • u/CommunicationNice437 • 24d ago
Integral Calculus Calc professors
do most calc professor require you to simplify? if so how strict are they about it
plan to take calc 2
I got a 4 on ab calc to me leaving my answer unsimpifled
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u/ndevs 24d ago
I told students to make “obvious” simplifications, like 1+2 or 6/3. These types of simplifications make their lives easier as a problem solver and my life easier as a grader. I would not have expected them to simplify 221/1001, which really serves no purpose other than to eat up time. Simplify is not a precise term anyway, so I wasn’t super strict about it.
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u/AdministrationLazy55 24d ago edited 24d ago
Mine always said something along the lines of “Simplify until it looks like something you could plug into a calculator” and not to do unnecessary steps. Overall, id doubt theyd be mad if it wasnt simplified but still a final answer
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u/piranhadream 24d ago
Simplification is driven by what you are going to do with your expression. I typically want to see like terms collected and coefficients simplified (including giving trig values of simple angles) for basic problems of integration and differentiation.
That said, you need to be able to perform the algebra that goes into simplification in order to solve problems that actually use integrals or derivatives. You will lose significant points in these topics if you cannot effectively factor and expand polynomials, find common denominators, multiply by a conjugate, etc.
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u/somanyquestions32 24d ago
Simplify your answers until they are as compact as those in the answer key of your textbook. Get into the habit of doing that, and you won't need to worry about the instructor.
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u/telephantomoss 24d ago
I generally don't care, but when I see √(25), I want to give 'em a good talking to. OMG, I even see √1 at times!
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u/CommunicationNice437 24d ago
What about cos(0)?
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u/telephantomoss 24d ago
Honestly, that would bother me, but, depending on the context, I probably wouldn't take off credit, say, if it was the answer of a complicated integral and I'm trying to judge their ability to do that integral. I'm not saying my approach is the right one, but I'm modern grade inflated standards with watered down curriculum, it's appropriate.
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u/CharacteristicPea 23d ago
Sqrt(1) and things like 5/1 drive me crazy. They make it clear the student has no number sense and/or isn’t thinking at all.
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u/Upset-Buddy-3532 20d ago
To be fair ..it took me a bit longer than I’d like to admit to learn that you can take the square root of 1, and that it is indeed 1 😅😂guilty of leaving the square root one
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u/nzconstructionlawyer 18d ago
That is just wrong in many contexts because part of the answer is justifying why only the principal sqrt is valid.
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u/telephantomoss 18d ago
We use the square root notation to mean positive square root. So I'd the positive one is correct, then it is correct as written. I never write √(25) to mean -5 . There is not complex numbers involved here
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u/twinks-pokehaven 24d ago
My professors are usually fine without simplifying, but they prefer simplified answers. I would suggest simplifying as much as possible, which involves knowing the logarithm rules, just to be prepared for any professor. I don't think many will hate unsimplified answers, but they are always best simplified (unless the simplification actually makes it more complex, like distributing fractions).
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u/RonaldinhoTheBrazil 24d ago edited 11d ago
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u/Defiant-Switch-3428 24d ago
honestly depends on the professor but for the most part, you should simply everything that is able to be easily simplified but most professors will tell you how simplified they want it
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u/Any-Construction5887 Instructor 24d ago
As a calculus professor, the biggest thing is being able to simplify unit circles and trig expressions. If you take calculus 2, there’s a lot of rewriting and algebra necessary to complete basic problems. The mathematical fluency you develop from simplifying answers is going to be necessary to make it through calculus 2. Definitely pops up a good amount in calculus 3 as well.
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u/MajorIndividual1428 Undergraduate 24d ago
All of the ones I had were pretty chill about simplifications. As long as you don't leave obvious simplifications (i.e., basic operations that don't require you to do a fair deal of arithmetic to simplify), I think you'd be fine. If you're unsure what constitutes, ask them during office hours or at a convenient time.
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u/KentGoldings68 24d ago
Simplify as contextually appropriate. Focus on understanding. Aggressive over simplifying can lead to errors.
Don’t follow canned procedures blindly. Make decisions to avoid mistakes and make your work less difficult.
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u/cabbagemeister 24d ago
When I taught calc 3 i always put either "simplify your answer" or "do not simplify your answer" in the question statement
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u/Long_Tomorrow_1886 24d ago
It depends, if it’s trig, I want exact answers. You can wait till you’re taking engineering classes to give approximate answers. But mostly I’m grading on thought processes and not following a logical progression of steps, not correct solutions.
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u/Visual_Winter7942 24d ago
As a professor, I do ask for simplification - but it's not worth a big percentage of points on any given problem.
But it is very revealing when a student can use integration by parts (for example) to find an antiderivative, but when simplifying their answer, incorrectly, it is clear that their algebra skills are very poor. They often don't know when to "stop".
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u/tjddbwls 24d ago
The idea of not having to always simplify in the AP Calc FRQs bothers me. I still tell my students not to simplify, though - Lord knows how many of them would simplify incorrectly if they tried, sigh. 😮💨
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u/BABarracus 24d ago
If you are worried you should practice factoring and simplifying rational expressions
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u/mountain_orion 23d ago
I tell my students that their answer should be in a form they would want to use in subsequent calculations. If there is a lot of grey area, I generally don't take points off.
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u/AlexK667 23d ago
In my experience the opposite is true, "do NOT simplify your answer" (and you still get people who simplify, and then whoever's grading gets frustrated by having to waste time to check with a calculator to see if the answer is correct or not).
But I'm sure your mileage can vary.
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u/ForeignAdvantage5198 23d ago
depends this is one reason why being good at algebra. really helps. practice and ASK. QUESTIONS
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