Wednesday, March 5, 2008

BOB ^ 8

Well, I went on to check out the calculus blog to BOB and surprisingly enough, there aren't many BOB's up for this test yet, especially considering what time is it already. I hope that people didn't forget =/.

Anyways, this unit, applications of integrals, was definitely not a cake walk. I think there's quite a bit of material left for me to review, mostly due to the fact that I seem to be lost in a haze since we only have class every second day now and I'm usually too busy with other things to finish all of the homework. But all in all, a lot of the applications of integrals we have covered during this unit are quite similar. Such as the similarity between evaluating the volumes of various solids revolved about the x or y-axis or a particular line like y = -1 and using density functions and such to find a mass or population (the last section of this unit).

Since I mentioned the last section of this unit anyway, I think that's probably the only place where I might run into some trouble on the test tomorrow. The main reason for this is because the process of solving such problems aren't straight forward in the least, though once you repeat the logic undertaken each time you attempt a problem of this sort (where unit analysis incredibly simplifies the matter) the approach for each question becomes more apparent each time.

Besides the aforementioned troublesome questions, I don't think that there is anything else I might find excruciatingly difficult on the test. The only things we really have to know for tomorrow are:

- The difference between displacement and distance when integrating a velocity/speed function.
- Determining definite integrals to represent the volume of a solid, and evaluating Riemann sums and these self-generated definite integrals.
- How to use integrals to determine the average value of a function. (Just think of finding the average normally, ex. adding up all your marks (an integral) over the total amount of marks (the size of the interval)).
- How to use integrals for differing scenarios, such as oil density or population density of cities. I suggest reviewing chapter 8.5 in the textbook for elaboration and some practice on this topic.

Well that's it, I haven't completed such a long BOB in quite a while. Well, I hope everyone does great on the test tomorrow, don't forget to go over all your notes and practice some problems tonight. Study hard everyone! I know I will.

I wish everyone good luck on tomorrow's test and a good night!

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