Precalculus: A Concise Course, 3rd Edition

Ron Larson

Copyright 2014
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Precalculus: A Concise Course 3rd Edition by Ron Larson

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Overview
Meet the Author
What's New
Features
Table of Contents
Pricing

Overview

Larson's PRECALCULUS: A CONCISE COURSE is known for delivering the same sound, consistently structured explanations and exercises of mathematical concepts as his market-leading PRECALCULUS, Ninth Edition. In A CONCISE COURSE, the author offers instructors a streamlined presentation to precalculus that is a perfect one-semester alternative to traditional textbooks. With the third edition, Larson continues to revolutionize the way students learn material by incorporating more real-world applications, ongoing review, and innovative technology. How Do You See It? exercises give students practice applying the concepts, and new summarize features, checkpoint problems, and a companion website reinforce understanding of the skill sets to help students better prepare for tests. Enhanced WebAssign features fully integrated content from the text, with the addition of end-of-section problems and chapter tests, as well as problem-specific videos, animations, and lecture videos.

Meet the Authors

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Ron Larson

Dr. Ron Larson is a professor of mathematics at the Pennsylvania State University, where he has taught since 1970. He is considered the pioneer of using multimedia to enhance the learning of mathematics, having authored more than 30 software titles since 1990. Dr. Larson has also authored numerous acclaimed textbooks, including the best-selling calculus series coauthored with Dr. Bruce Edwards and published by Cengage. Dr. Larson received the 2017 William Holmes McGuffey Longevity Award for PRECALCULUS and for CALCULUS. He also received the 2018 Text and Academic Authors Association TEXTY Award for CALCULUS: EARLY TRANSCENDENTAL FUNCTIONS. In addition, Dr. Larson received the 1996 Text and Academic Authors Association TEXTY Award for INTERACTIVE CALCULUS -- a complete text on CD-ROM that was the first mainstream college textbook to be offered on the internet.

What's New

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Fresh Chapter Openers highlight real-life problems that connect to the examples and exercises presented in the following chapter.
Innovative Summarize Features help students organize the lesson's key concepts into a concise summary, providing a valuable study tool at the end of each section.
Unprecedented How Do You See It? Exercises in every section present real-life problems that students solve by visual inspection using the concepts in the lesson.
Original Checkpoint Problems encourage immediate practice and check students' understanding of the concepts in the paired example.
New Series Companion Website features chapter projects, data tables, assessments, study tools, video solutions, and more to support students outside the text.

Features

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Side-By-Side Examples help students see not only that a problem can be solved in more than one way but also how different methods—algebraically, graphically, and numerically—yield the same result. The side-by-side format also addresses many different learning styles.
Algebra Helps directs students to sections of the textbook where they can review algebra skills needed to master the current topic.
Technology Features offer suggestions for effectively using tools such as calculators, graphing calculators, and spreadsheet programs to deepen student understanding of concepts, ease lengthy calculations, and provide alternate solution methods for verifying answers obtained by hand.
Historical Notes provide helpful information regarding basic mathematical foundations.
Algebra of Calculus Examples and Exercises throughout the text emphasizes various algebraic techniques used in calculus.
Vocabulary Exercises at the beginning of the exercise set for each section help students review previously learned vocabulary terms necessary to solve the section exercises.
Student Projects in various sections and online feature in-depth applied exercises with large, real-life data sets, where students create or analyze models.
Chapter Summaries include explanations and examples of the objectives taught in the chapter.
Larson PRECALCULUS: A CONCISE COURSE is ideal for a one-semester course.

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1. FUNCTIONS AND THEIR GRAPHS.
Rectangular Coordinates. Graphs of Equations. Linear Equations in Two Variables. Functions. Analyzing Graphs of Functions. A Library of Parent Functions. Transformations of Functions. Combinations of Functions: Composite Functions. Inverse Functions. Mathematical Modeling and Variation. Chapter Summary. Review Exercises. Chapter Test. Proofs in Mathematics. P.S. Problem Solving.
2. POLYNOMIAL AND RATIONAL FUNCTIONS.
Quadratic Functions and Models. Polynomial Functions of Higher Degree. Polynomial and Synthetic Division. Complex Numbers. Zeros of Polynomial Functions. Rational Functions. Nonlinear Inequalities. Chapter Summary. Review Exercises. Chapter Test. Proofs in Mathematics. P.S. Problem Solving.
3. EXPONENTIAL AND LOGARITHMIC FUNCTIONS.
Exponential Functions and Their Graphs. Logarithmic Functions and Their Graphs. Properties of Logarithms. Exponential and Logarithmic Equations. Exponential and Logarithmic Models. Chapter Summary. Review Exercises. Chapter Test. Cumulative Test for Chapters 1-3. Proofs in Mathematics. P.S. Problem Solving.
4. TRIGONOMETRY.
Radian and Degree Measure. Trigonometric Functions: The Unit Circle. Right Triangle Trigonometry. Trigonometric Functions of Any Angle. Graphs of Sine and Cosine Functions. Graphs of Other Trigonometric Functions. Inverse Trigonometric Functions. Applications and Models. Chapter Summary. Review Exercises. Chapter Test. Proofs in Mathematics. P.S. Problem Solving.
5. ANALYTIC TRIGONOMETRY.
Using Fundamental Identities. Verifying Trigonometric Identities. Solving Trigonometric Equations. Sum and Difference Formulas. Multiple-Angle and Product-to-Sum Formulas. Law of Sines. Law of Cosines. Chapter Summary. Review Exercises. Chapter Test. Proofs in Mathematics. P.S. Problem Solving.
6. TOPICS IN ANALYTIC GEOMETRY.
Lines. Introduction to Conics: Parabolas. Ellipses. Hyperbolas. Parametric Equations. Polar Coordinates. Graphs of Polar Equations. Polar Equations of Conics. Chapter Summary. Review Exercises. Chapter Test. Cumulative Test for Chapters 4-6. Proofs in Mathematics. P.S. Problem Solving.
APPENDIX A: A REVIEW OF FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF ALGEBRA (WEB).
Real Numbers and Their Properties. Exponents and Radicals. Polynomials and Factoring. Rational Expressions. Solving Equations. Linear Inequalities in One Variable. Errors and the Algebra of Calculus.
APPENDIX B: CONCEPTS IN STATISTICS (WEB).
Representing Data. Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion. Least Squares Regression.