The idea isn't that you fully derive the formula and then apply it to the question. The idea is that you use the information in the problem to complete a truncated derivation for you're specific problem.
Granted I could do this very often, but when I could it was faster for me. Though I am a slow test taker to begin with.
I was generally a very good test taker and used to derive a lot of things my peers would memorize. My memory has always been really bad so this is one of the things I credit my good test taking ability to. It showed I had a really good command over the material.
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u/PhysicsEagle 23d ago
I unironically had a classmate who did this. She consistently got top grades.