Calculus One

Jim Fowler, PhD

Week 1 - Welcome to Calculus One

Welcome to Calculus! Join me on this journey through one of the great triumphs of human thought.

Introduction To Calculus One

Why is calculus going to be so much fun?
How to Use Discussion Forums
How is this course structured?
Get to Know Your Classmates

Week 2 - Functions and Limits

Functions are the main star of our journey. Calculus isn't numbers: it's relationships between things,
and how one thing changing affects something else.

Introduction
How do we get started with calculus?

Functions? What's a Function?

What is a function?
When are two functions the same?
How can more functions be made?
Practice Quiz: Functions? What's a Function?

Functions in the Real World

What are some real-world examples of functions?
What is the domain of square root?
Practice Quiz: Functions in the Real World

Limits? What's a Limit?

Morally, what is the limit of a sum?
What is the limit of sin (1/x)?
What is the limit of (sin x)/x?
What is the limit of (x^2 - 1)/(x-1)?
Practice Quiz: Limits? What's a Limit?z

Working with Limits

What is the limit of a product?
What is the limit of a quotient?
Practice Quiz: Working with Limits

Limits in Motion
How fast does a ball move?
Practice Quiz: Limits in Motion
Review
Quiz: Functions and Limits

Week 3 - The End of Limits

People have thought about infinity for thousands of years; limits provide one way to make such
ponderings precise. Continuity makes precise the idea that small changes in the input don't affect
the output much.

Introduction
What else is there to study about functions and limits?

Continuity
What is a one-sided limit?
What does "continuous" mean?
What is the intermediate value theorem?
How can I approximate root two?
Practice Quiz: Continuity

Infinity? How can I work with that?

Why is there an x so that f(x) = x?
What does lim f(x) = infinity mean?
What is the limit f(x) as x approaches infinity?
Why is infinity not a number?
Practice Quiz: Infinity

Slope?
What is the difference between potential and actual infinity?
What is the slope of a staircase?
How fast does water drip from a faucet?
Practice Quiz: Slope

Bonus Videos
What is the official definition of limit?
Why is the limit of x^2 as x approaches 2 equal to 4?
Why is the limit of 2x as x approaches 10 equal to 20?
Practice Quiz: Limit Definition

Review
Quiz: The End of Limits

Week 4 - The Beginning of Derivatives

It is time to change topics, or rather, to study change itself! When we wiggle the input, the output
value changes, and that ratio of output change to input change is the derivative.

Introduction
What comes next? Derivatives?

What are derivatives?

What is the definition of derivative?
What is a tangent line?
Why is the absolute value function not differentiable?
How does wiggling x affect f(x)?
Practice Quiz: What are derivatives?

Why would I care to find the derivative?

Why is sqrt(9999) so close to 99.995?
What information is recorded in the sign of the derivative?
Practice Quiz: Why would I care to find the derivative?

How do differentiability and continuity relate?

Why is a differentiable function necessarily continuous?
What is the derivative of a constant multiple of f(x)?
Practice Quiz: How do differentiability and continuity relate?

How do I find the derivative?

Why is the derivative of x^2 equal to 2x?
What is the derivative of x^n?
What is the derivative of x^3 + x^2?
Why is the derivative of a sum the sum of derivatives?
Practice Quiz: How do I find the derivative?

Review
Quiz: The Beginning of Derivatives

Week 5 - Techniques of Differentiation

With the product rule and the quotient rule, we can differentiate products and quotients. And since
the derivative is a function, we can differentiate the derivative to get the second derivative.

Introduction
How do we compute derivatives?

How do I differentiate a product?

What is the derivative of f(x) g(x)?
Morally, why is the product rule true?
How does one justify the product rule?
Practice Quiz: How do I differentiate a product?

How do I differentiate a quotient?

What is the quotient rule?
How can I remember the quotient rule?
Practice Quiz: How do I differentiate a quotient?

Higher Derivatives?
What is the meaning of the derivative of the derivative?
What does the sign of the second derivative encode?
What does d/dx mean by itself?
Practice Quiz: Higher Derivatives
How do I sketch a graph without a computer?
What are extreme values?
How can I find extreme values?
Do all local minimums look basically the same when you zoom in?
How can I sketch a graph by hand?
Practice Quiz: How do I sketch a graph without a computer?

How do I differentiate e^x?

What is a function which is its own derivative?
Practice Quiz: How do I differentiate e^x?

Review
Quiz: Techniques of Differentiation

Week 6 - Chain Rule

The chain rule lets us differentiate the composition of two functions. The chain rule can be used to
compute the derivative of inverse functions, too.

Intro
Is there anything more to learn about derivatives?

What is the Chain Rule?

What is the chain rule?
What is the derivative of (1+2x)^5 and sqrt(x^2 + 0.0001)?
Practice Quiz: What is the Chain Rule?

How do I find the tangent line to a curve?

What is implicit differentiation?
What is the folium of Descartes?
Practice Quiz: How do I find the tangent line to a curve?

How do I find the derivative of an inverse function?

How does the derivative of the inverse function relate to the derivative of the original function?
What is the derivative of log?
What is logarithmic differentiation?
Practice Quiz: How do I find the derivative of an inverse function?

How can I multiply quickly?

How can we multiply quickly?
Practice Quiz: How can I multiply quickly?

How do I justify the derivative rules?

How do we justify the power rule?
How can logarithms help to prove the product rule?
How do we prove the quotient rule?
BONUS: How does one prove the chain rule?
Practice Quiz: How do I justify the derivative rules?
Review
Quiz: Chain Rule

Week 7 - Derivatives of Transcendental (Trigonometric)

Functions
So far, we can differentiate polynomials, exponential functions, and logarithms. Let's learn how to
differentiate trigonometric functions.

Introduction
What are derivatives of transcendental functions?

What is trigonometry?
What are transcendental functions?
Why does trigonometry work?
Why are there these other trigonometric functions?
Practice Quiz: What is trigonometry?

How can I differentiate trig functions?

What is the derivative of sine and cosine?
What is the derivative of tan x?
What is the derivative of sin(x^2)?
What are the derivatives of the other trigonometric functions?
Practice Quiz: How can I differentiate trig functions?

How can I differentiate inverse trig functions?

What are inverse trigonometric functions?
What are the derivatives of inverse trig functions?
Practice Quiz: How can I differentiate inverse trig functions?

What can we learn from the derivatives of trig functions?

Why do sine and cosine oscillate?
How can we get a formula for sin(a+b)?
How can I approximate sin 1?
Practice Quiz: What can we learn from the derivatives?

Multiplying Trigonometric Functions with Slide Rules

How can we multiply numbers with trigonometry?
Practice Quiz: Multiplying Trigonometric Functions with Slide Rules

Review
Quiz: Derivatives of Transcendental (Trigonometric) Functions

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Antidifferentiation
Antidifferentiation is the process of untaking derivatives, of finding a function whose derivatives is
a given function. Since it involves working backwards, antidifferentiation feels like "unbreaking a
vase" and can be just as challenging.

Antidifferentiation
What does it mean to antidifferentiate?

But there are so many antiderivatives!

How do we handle the fact that there are many antiderivatives?
Practice Quiz: But there are so many antiderivatives!

How am I supposed to compute antiderivatives?

What is the antiderivative of a sum?
What is an antiderivative for x^n?
What is the most general antiderivative of 1/x?
What are antiderivatives of trigonometric functions?
What are antiderivatives of e^x and natural log?
Practice Quiz: How am I supposed to compute antiderivatives?

Why is this so hard?

What is the antiderivative of f(mx+b)?
What is an antiderivative for e^(-x^2)?
How difficult is factoring compared to multiplying?
Practice Quiz: Why is this so hard?

Why would anybody want to do this?

Knowing my velocity, what is my position?
Knowing my acceleration, what is my position?
What is the antiderivative of sine squared?
What is a slope field?
Practice Quiz: Why would anybody want to do this?

Review
Quiz: Antidifferentiation

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Week 16 - Applications of Integration

We have already used integrals to compute area; integration can also be used to compute volumes.

Applications of Integration: Introduction

What can we do with integrals besides calculating area?

How else can I calculate area?

What happens when I use thin horizontal rectangles to compute area?
When should I use horizontal as opposed to vertical pieces?
Practice Quiz: How else can I calculate area?

How can I calculate volume?

What does "volume" even mean?
What is the volume of a sphere?
How do washers help to compute the volume of a solid of revolution?
What is the volume of a thin shell?
What is the volume of a sphere with a hole drilled in it?
Practice Quiz: How can I calculate volume?

How can I calculate length?

What does "length" even mean?
On the graph of y^2 = x^3, what is the length of a certain arc?
Practice Quiz: How can I calculate length?

Review
Quiz: Applications of Integration