Welcome to the HappyCal Zone

(Honors AP Calculus BC, Period B)
Web address shortcut for this page:
rememberflight93.org/23calc

Are you nervous when you see NCWEE? concerned when you see CIRC? perturbed when you see PBC? Visit Mr. Hansen’s fabled abbreviations page to make sense of those cryptic markings you see on your papers.

 

Schedule at a Glance (see archives for older entries)

Th 5/29/03

Final Exam, 2:00 p.m., Steuart 101/102. Students with a B average (80%) or above in the second semester are exempt. Note that this policy is more generous than the standard STA Mathematics Dept. policy, which requires all members of Form V to take a final exam, even in AP classes.

I have spoken by telephone with everyone who is affected by this policy. If you have not heard from me, you may safely assume that you do not need to take the final exam.

GRADES

All second semester grades are now posted. Please e-mail me if you have forgotten your codename.

Essential Links:
-- College Board: AP Calculus Main Page
-- Eric Weisstein’s World of Mathematics, the Web’s most extensive mathematics resource (no kidding!)

Extra Help:
-- Karl’s Calculus Tutor for first-year students
-- Temple University: Calculus on the Web (COW)

Links Based on Class Discussions:
-- Troy’s Integral Approximation Thingy: a neat JavaScript application for Midpoint Rule, Trapezoid Rule, Simpson’s Rule, etc.
-- Another integral approximator tool found by John S. (actually shows you the rectangles or trapezoids)
-- Chris and Andrew’s proof that Simpson’s Rule is a weighted average of the Midpoint and Trapezoid Rules
-- Braxton’s direct proof of FTC2
-- Proof that FTC1 implies FTC2 and conversely
-- Related rates practice problem (not hard, but nicely structured, with step-by-step programmed help if you make a mistake somewhere along the line)
-- Limaçon of Pascal (with adjustable parameters)
-- Partial fraction decomposition with many sample problems and solutions
-- PAVE Summer Program at Vanderbilt University
-- Sierpinski numbers and recent results in number theory

Links for AP Preparation:
-- Cram Sheet (courtesy of Will Felder and Mr. Hansen)
-- Review question logsheet (many thanks to Robert V. V. for updating this for 2003; requires Microsoft Excel)
-- Permitted features for graphing calculators on the AP examination: you’ll definitely want to print this one out
-- Alvirne H.S., Hudson, NH (great site!)
-- Actual college calculus tests from Mr. Hansen’s alma mater (great practice!)
-- Multiple choice practice #1 with answer key
-- Multiple choice practice #2 with answer key
-- College Board: AP Calculus Main Page (same as the link you saw above under “essential links”)

Fun Links:
-- Norm at Night: Mr. Constantine’s live Web radio show (Tues. and Thurs. nights at 7)
-- Mathematicians as depicted in the movies (Good Will Hunting, etc.)
-- An Algebra II problem that has a calculus flavor to it. (This is problem #26 from §11-7 of Foerster’s Algebra and Trigonometry: Functions and Applications.) The problem is to determine which sweepstakes prize is better: a $20,000 lump sum or $100 a month for life. Assume 4% annual interest compounded monthly. In part (d), the challenge is to determine how the answer changes if the interest rate changes to 7%.
-- The Mt. Sinai problem and two variations
-- The amazing Banach-Tarski Paradox, which apparently permits any sphere to be cut and reassembled into two spheres, each having the volume of the original sphere
-- The equally astonishing Bailey-Borwein-Plouffe algorithm for calculating pi to any desired decimal place
-- Sound wave analysis (harmonics, Doppler shift, etc.) / excellent site developed by students at TJHSST in Virginia
-- Good problems (some calculus, some not)
-- More fun links on Mr. Hansen’s home page

Career Thoughts:
-- What does a professional nonacademic mathematician do all day?
-- National Security Agency and its fascinating Cryptologic Museum
-- Is Math a Young Man’s Game?

Serious Links:
-- Summer math camps for talented high school students
-- Click here for other serious links


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Last Updated: 04 Jun 2003