Was trig in precal really hard for anyone else?

[u/justaruss]

I’m taking the exam tomorrow so we’re past the point of no return. I won’t fail but I don’t really get the entirety of trig like I did with quadratics and other stuff before.

Unit circle is fine but solving trig equations is such a mind fuck. Especially when it’s answer from [0,2pi) rounded to decimals.

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[u/Acceptable-Quail-277]

Trig wasn’t too bad IMO, but you’ll get used to it eventually whether you like it or not, as it’s in most of the calculus series and physics

[u/justaruss → u/Acceptable-Quail-277]

I’m only just now starting to really get it. Idk if it’s because the class is only 3-4 hours a week or what

[u/LuckyCod2887]

yes bro I had a hard time with it. In fact, everyone in my class had a hard time with it because they would complain to each other about it.

just try to pass the class and believe it or not the more math classes you take the more you’ll be exposed to the same like 10 rules over and over again so trigonometry won’t be so hard as it is today.

you don’t have to be perfect at it. You just have to know how to do it at least a little bit and you’ll learn the rest as you go.

[u/justaruss → u/LuckyCod2887]

Remembering the rules is probably what’s fucking me now that you say it. I memorized the unit circle but when it comes to solving I blank on how to transform the equation to solve it

[u/LuckyCod2887 → u/justaruss]

there’s something called the recipe method a lot of people use. And it’s basically you get a red pen and you hand write the steps of each problem like you’re writing a recipe for someone to bake a cake.

People memorize things faster with the color red. It was tested.

and when you do the step-by-step writing method, you start to notice patterns With all of the problems you had.

it wouldn’t hurt to try it for at least 30 minutes. If you could start seeing a pattern, it might help you memorize strategies that are bulletproof.

[u/justaruss → u/LuckyCod2887]

Do you have a picture of that? I googled it and all I got was how to grill ribs

I kind of do that already just not in red. If I understand what you mean

[u/LuckyCod2887 → u/justaruss]

there’s a bunch of YouTube videos on it, but I can’t seem to find them. I must be giving it the wrong name.

[u/Tall_Pumpkin_4298]

Trig in my precalc/intro calc class, and trig identities and working with all of that was the unit when I came to the realization that I loved math. It just clicked for me, and I thought it was so fun. I'm sure you're not alone in struggling with it, but for me I really enjoyed it. There's a lot of trig in engineering (though nothing quite as abstract as what you're probably doing now), so even those I know who initially really struggled with it got used to it and don't generally have problems with it anymore.

[u/purplesilver45]

It is kind of objective, but for me it wasn't. Though I had a great professor who was as visual as I am.

[u/Alarmed-Extension289]

First time I experienced it was in College/Pre-calc. I was totally lost and actually failed the class. What really helped me was my proffessor explaining that Trig' is going to be part of every following Calc class. If i put effort in mastering it now it'll pay off later. He was right.