AP Calculus BC is a college-level calculus course that covers the material typically found in a first-semester and second-semester calculus course at a university. The course is designed to be taken after students have completed an AP Calculus AB course or its equivalent.
AP Calculus Course Topics
The topics covered in an AP Calculus BC course include all of the topics covered in AP Calculus AB, as well as additional topics that are typically covered in a second-semester calculus course. These additional topics include:
- L'Hopital's rule: students will learn how to use L'Hopital's rule to evaluate limits that involve indeterminate forms.
- Improper integrals: students will learn how to evaluate improper integrals, which are integrals that do not have a finite value.
- Sequences and series: students will learn about infinite sequences and series and how to find the sum of an infinite series using various techniques such as the integral test and the comparison test.
- Vector calculus: students will learn about vector calculus, including how to find the gradient, divergence, and curl of a vector field and how to use the gradient to find the maximum and minimum values of a function.
- Partial differential equations: students will learn about partial differential equations and how to solve them using various techniques.
- Multiple integration: students will learn how to find double and triple integrals and how to use them to find the volume of a solid and the area of a surface.
- Vector functions: students will learn how to work with vector functions, including how to find the derivative and integral of a vector function and how to use these concepts to solve problems involving velocity and acceleration.
AP Calculus BC also includes a laboratory component in which students will use technology to explore concepts and solve problems.
