Concavity of a Function What is concavity? Concavity is the way in which a curve (or surface) bends Mathematically, CONCAVE DOWN is often called concave CONCAVE UP is often called convex Exam Tip I...
Stationary Points & Turning Points What is the difference between a stationary point and a turning point? A stationary point is a point at which the gradient function is equal to zero The tange...
Second Order Derivatives What is the second order derivative of a function? If you differentiate the derivative of a function (i.e. differentiate the function a second time) you get the second orde...
Chain Rule What is the chain rule? How do I know when to use the chain rule? The chain rule is used when we are trying to differentiate composite functions “function of a function”How do I use the...
Differentiating Trig Functions How do I differentiate sin, cos and tan? Exam Tip As soon as you see a question involving differentiation and trigonometry put your GDC into radians mode Worked Examp...
Increasing & Decreasing Functions What are increasing and decreasing functions? How do I find where functions are increasing, decreasing or stationary? To identify the intervals on which a func...
Introduction to Derivatives Before introducing a derivative, an understanding of a limit is helpful What is a limit? What might I be asked about limits? You may be asked to use your GDC to plot the...
Calculating Probabilities using PDF A continuous random variable can take any value in an interval so is typically used when continuous quantities are involved (time, distance, weight, etc) What is...
Deriving the suvat Formulae What is suvat? suvat is an acronym for the five quantities used when modelling motion in a straight-line with constant acceleration s – displacement (from the sta...
