How long does it take you to do a single chapter of C3/C4?

Hey guys,

Today I was in the library doing C4 differentiation and I noticed 4 hours just fly by, but I had done only less than half of the chapter.
It's now 8pm, and I've only managed 4 pages of actual exercises, I have 2 more exercises to go before I finish the chapter.

Although, I was stuck on about 3 questions, each of them took me 40 minutes- an hour to figure out.

So I was wondering how long it takes you guys to finish a chapter? I think I may have to increase the speed at which I work, but for me I need all my calculations solved neatly and filed

Thanks in advanced ^_^

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Reply 1

Westeros

Original post by Lord Frieza

That isn't a bad thing at the end of the day, C3/C4 is more challenging and the questions require more thought and working out (in my opinion anyway!) I'd say 40 mins per exercise is reasonable

Reply 2

Lord Frieza

Original post by Westeros

That isn't a bad thing at the end of the day, C3/C4 is more challenging and the questions require more thought and working out (in my opinion anyway!) I'd say 40 mins per exercise is reasonable

That's reassuring, there was this guy next to me blazing through his C4 book like it was nothing which made me a bit worried if I'm going fast enough.

Reply 3

Old_Simon

The thing is differentiation is only about 6 techniques in total.

Reply 4

Westeros

Original post by Lord Frieza

That's reassuring, there was this guy next to me blazing through his C4 book like it was nothing which made me a bit worried if I'm going fast enough.

everyone works at different paces, as long as you're getting the work done and understanding how to do it, the time doesn't matter! Exams aren't till June, then again... that is literally round the corner :colondollar:

Reply 5

user2020user

Original post by Lord Frieza

...

It's not eight o'clock yet so you have 6 minutes to finish the chapter. :pierre:

Seriously, the fact that you're covering differentiation now is all that matters. It's better than leaving it to the last week, trust me.

Reply 6

Lord Frieza

Original post by Khallil

It's not eight o'clock yet so you have 6 minutes to finish the chapter. :pierre:

Seriously, the fact that you're covering differentiation now is all that matters. It's better than leaving it to the last week, trust me.

LOL, differential equations not the best day to end the evening ><

I've finished chapters 1,2,3 and nearly 4. But dat vectors is giving me nightmares. I don't even wanna' start it!

Reply 7

Lord Frieza

Original post by Old_Simon

The thing is differentiation is only about 6 techniques in total.

It only takes me about 20 minutes to learn the techniques by heart. The problem is applying it which for me, requires hours and hours of practise

Reply 8

Kuchkuchhotahai

Original post by Lord Frieza

LOL, differential equations not the best day to end the evening ><

I've finished chapters 1,2,3 and nearly 4. But dat vectors is giving me nightmares. I don't even wanna' start it!

THIS. Vectors is my worst nightmare when it comes to Maths.

Reply 9

Lord Frieza

Original post by Kuchkuchhotahai

THIS. Vectors is my worst nightmare when it comes to Maths.

Is it the same as Mechanics 1 vectors? Those were killer

Reply 10

Kuchkuchhotahai

Original post by Lord Frieza

Is it the same as Mechanics 1 vectors? Those were killer

Yeah you could say that, but C4 Vectors are a lot more in depth. It would be perfectly do-able if it weren't for the Integration chapter too.. It's fine if you put your mind to it!

Reply 11

Lord Frieza

Original post by Kuchkuchhotahai

Yeah you could say that, but C4 Vectors are a lot more in depth. It would be perfectly do-able if it weren't for the Integration chapter too.. It's fine if you put your mind to it!

-_________-

It's gonna' be a looooooooooooooooong exam season

But you're right, anything is possible if you put your mind to it!

Reply 12

Kuchkuchhotahai

Original post by Lord Frieza

-_________-

It's gonna' be a looooooooooooooooong exam season

But you're right, anything is possible if you put your mind to it!

Tell me about it.. I've yet to start an A level I'm going to be doing in June! :frown:

Reply 13

Old_Simon

Original post by Lord Frieza

It only takes me about 20 minutes to learn the techniques by heart. The problem is applying it which for me, requires hours and hours of practise

It shouldn't take that long to get on top of it. Not sure what to suggest but your approach is making it more difficult than it need be.

Reply 14

Lord Frieza

Original post by Kuchkuchhotahai

Tell me about it.. I've yet to start an A level I'm going to be doing in June! :frown:

Whoaaaa, better start soon dude! No life it!!

Reply 15

Lord Frieza

Original post by Old_Simon

It shouldn't take that long to get on top of it. Not sure what to suggest but your approach is making it more difficult than it need be.

I dunno, maybe I'm a bit slow? o.o

Reply 16

Old_Simon

Original post by Lord Frieza

I dunno, maybe I'm a bit slow? o.o

Do you identify the function immediately ? I mean do you say " mmmmmmm Ok, this is a mixed case of a polynomial and an exponential plus it is a function of a function where one function is in fact a product " ?

Reply 17

Lord Frieza

Original post by Old_Simon

No, never. When I see the question, I immediately know what method to use and what functions are present. The part that takes me long is the simplification of the end function.

For instance if I'm differentiating parametric trig terms and I need to find the equation of a straight line. It will take me a good 20 minutes because I get lost in the Pi's and radians of the numbers. I then have to look at the answer to see what the heck I'm doing...

But the actual methods are not hard for me

Reply 18

Old_Simon

Ok ty for that feedback. To me what it seems you are saying is that you find differentiation tricky because really you do not know the trigonometry as fluently as you need to. This is very common. It is so worth going backwards into trig and relearning it really well or calculus will be a miserable experience for you. pis and radians are easy if you get on it for an hour or two.