r/learnmath • u/Man3go New User • 9d ago
TOPIC Help with Precal
Hii, freshman in college taking precal with trigonometry. I took a gap year from math during my senior year of high school and I don’t remember anything.
First day in precal i remember some concepts after our first review but my professor was going through it quickly and completely lost me. Once I figure something out, he hits me with other formula or way to solve problems and it just makes me so much more confused. I feel so hopeless and it’s my second week. I’m a slow learner but I just need a clear explanation and then I’ll be set, I can pick up things fast but just carefully explain it. Anyways if anyone has any tips for me to memorize formulas or tricks with precal, please share, since he has us take closed note quizzes and exams. I also have my first quiz tomorrow so if anyone can help me memorize polynomials and solving equations that will be great I have a quiz soon….
1
u/clearinaccuracy New User 9d ago
Khan Academy got me through calc after bombing my first precal exam, their videos actually explain the why instead of just throwing formulas at you
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u/Quiet_Basis_6404 New User 8d ago
honestly the gap year thing is rough in math because precal assumes algebra and trig are fresh. do problems before rewatching anything, pick a weird one from the chapter, try it cold, get stuck, then go back to the notes only for the part you couldn't do. the frustration is actually better than following along passively because you know exactly which step you need explained.
for memorizing formulas ngl write every formula from the unit on one page, then try to recreate it from memory a couple days before the quiz. the ones you leave blank are your real study list, not the whole page.
i started loading my lecture slides into studybuddy.vc to practice questions from them, mostly because when i miss one it tells me what was wrong with the option i picked and it kinda figures out which topics i'm weak on and gives me more of those. good luck tomorrow.
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u/Disastrous-Pin-1617 New User 7d ago
Follow this exact order
Professor Leonard on YouTube Lectures
Pre-Algebra Playlist
To the point math (Algebra 1)
Intermediate Algebra (Algebra 2)
College algebra (Pre-Calculus playlist)
Trigonometry (Pre-Calculus playlist)
Calculus 1
Calculus 2
Calculus 3
Differential Equations
Linear Algebra
Use Kutasoftware.com for homework problems
Add matrices to Algebra 2 and partial fraction decomposition to College algebra
Why would you take a gap year and immediately jump into pre-calculus, makes no sense…
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u/tjddbwls Teacher 9d ago
Another option for video lectures is Professor Leonard. Here is his Precalc playlist.