1. Factoring: Knowing how to factor was the most important thing to know in this course. Coming from Pre Calculus 10, I didn’t really remember how to properly factor. I can say now that it is engrained in my brain after using it in almost every unit this semester. Especially as the equations were only going to become increasingly harder, we constantly reviewed and went over factoring.
Example: = (x+4)(x-2)
2. Sine Law: Learning the Sine Law made things much easier for me. The Sine Law is a formula/law that basically allows you to find any angle/side in the triangle as long as you know a matching side+angle, and the opposite side/angle to the one you are trying to find. Making sine law a very useful tool when it comes to trigonometry. Angle A/B/C and side a/b/c are opposite to each other.
3. Completing the square: Due to the course of PreCalc 11 having lots of graphing and quadratics, you are going to need to know how to solve in the semi-frequent situation of when you cannot factor the equation. In this case you complete the square. Completing the square is when you take the middle term in the quadratic (also known as the “b” term), divide it by 2 and then square it. Then you take the original last team (or “c” term) and move it outside of the original quadratic, and solve to find the zeros of the equation.
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