Pre-Calculus All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 22

Lining Up the Tools

IN THIS CHAPTER

Determining limits graphically, analytically, and algebraically

Pairing limits and operations

Homing in on the average rate of change

Identifying continuity and discontinuity in a function

Every good thing must come to an end, and for pre-calculus, the end is actually the beginning — the beginning of calculus. Calculus includes the study of change and rates of change (not to mention a big change for you!). Before calculus, everything was usually static (stationary or motionless), but calculus shows you that things can be different over time. This branch of mathematics enables you to study how things move, grow, travel, expand, and shrink and helps you do so much more than any other math subject before.

This chapter helps prepare you for calculus by introducing you to some of the basics of the subject. First, you’ll see the move from pre-calculus to calculus. And a big topic will be limits, which dictate that a graph can get really close to values without ever actually reaching them. Before you get to calculus, math problems give you ...