Can I learn single vairiable cal without finishing precal?

Question

jamesj · Answer

And learn it well?  No.

anonymous · Answer

most of what is taught in "pre-calc" has nothing at all to do with the ideas of calculus.  you can learn the ideas behind calculus knowing nothing much more than basic algebra.  
HOWEVER
all the applications you will see will presuppose a fairly thorough knowledge of functions, including logarithmic, exponential and trig functions. so without a solid background there you are likely be be lost in a traditional calculus course.

anonymous · Answer

I have a friend who learned "business" calculus, and she did well, but to learn most of the more advanced concepts, you will need to have learned sin, cos, and tan. Vectors are a must. If you decide not to take trig/pre-calc, then at least get acquainted with dot product and cross product (vectors), and with what sin, cos, tan (trig functions) mean. Knowing how to solve an inverse trig function on a triangle is nice, but in the real world, you will often use a calculator.

In my opinion, it is always nice to have as much math as you can get, but you CAN do Calc up to the second term before trig becomes a real problem. Once you get to Taylor and Maclaurin series, as well as Partial Derivatives and Double/Triple integration and Stoke's Theorem, you will definitely want the pre-calc, if for nothing else, so that you can refresh your geometry skills.

Hope this helps.

anonymous · Answer

it would be quite tough

anonymous · Answer

i would go ahead and do it, if your algebra is good.

anonymous · Answer

Thank you guys , I'm in precal right now and we're just  hitting trig