17calculus blog

As promised we have been adding lots and lots of practice problems. We now have over 500 practice problems with about half of those on infinite series. We have been focusing very hard on infinite series since we know most students struggle with them. However, they are not hard as long you work plenty of practice problems, more than you usually do for other calculus topics. The infinite series practice problems are nearly complete . . . for now. We will always add more practice problems but currently, we need to focus on other areas.

One of those other areas is limits. We have over 150 limits practice problems now. We have expanded the discussion on trig limits, the epsilon-delta definition of the limit and the squeeze theorem. The last limits page to get updated with content and practice problems will be one-sided limits, with maybe a face-lift here and there on other pages.

After that . . . well, we haven’t really decided. We are leaning toward multivariable calculus topics, applications of derivatives or integrals or maybe parametrics.

In the meantime, check out these PatrickJMT free practice problems. You will find plenty of written out practice problems that should hold you for now. PatrickJMT is one of 3 featured instructors on our site that we think explains calculus well, uses good notation and is a good instructor. We highly recommend his videos.

What would you like to see? What is coming up in your class in the next few weeks? Let us know and we may be able to get you some practice problems.

Practice problems are the core of learning calculus. You can watch videos, read books, listen to lectures, watch others work problems and you still won’t get calculus until you sit down and work practice problems on your own and wrestle through every derivative, every integral, every series test . . . well, just everything!

Here at 17calculus, we are working hard to bring you more practice problems. Over the next few weeks, you will notice lots more practice problems showing up. We have over 300 practice problems now but we hope to have LOTS more soon. Exactly what do we mean by ‘lots’?

Well, not only have we wanted to bring you tons of practice problems for a long, but we also noticed another problem. We have over 1400 videos, the best videos available on youtube. But how do you know which videos to watch? Some of them explain theory, but most just show examples. And most of the time you have to actually watch the video to know if it applies to you. That sounds like a good way to waste time.

So, to solve both problems, we are going through each video, and telling you which ones discuss theory and which ones have examples. Then we post the video so that you can watch only what applies to you. You will be able to watch theory without having to look at examples that you may not understand yet. And you will be able to work practice problems without having to wade through all the theory, searching for that perfect practice problem.

The examples from many of the videos are shown as practice problems at the bottom of each page. You can tell they are videos because the button to show the solution will say ‘Video Solution’. The practice problems with buttons labeled ‘Detail Solution’ are practice problems with worked out solutions and may or may not contain a video as well.

So check out the first few pages we’ve been working on listed below. Give us a few months to get this done. Like we said, we have over 1400 videos at the moment and more are added periodically. But we will be working diligently to bring you the best videos and the best practice problems for calculus available online. Our goal is to have at least 25 practice problems for each technique with more for difficult topics. So, to answer our question above, lots means hundreds!

Keep working those practice problems and let us know what you think!

Infinite Series
Limit Comparison Test
Direct Comparison Test
nth-Term Test
Limits
Finite Limits
Infinite Limits
Integrals
Trigonometric Integration
Trigonometric Substitution

The fourth single variable calculus course is now complete, just in time for fall semester. The
Infinite Series Course is ready for you to go through to brush up your skills or to work through while you are taking calculus. Let us know what you think.