Book for MCAT math without calculator

[paperaeroplane]

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So I started doing MCAT prep recently and have been following the BR books. What has been getting me is simple math. A lot of times in their explanations the BR books don't thoroughly explain the math they used to get the correct answer without a calculator (for example, one question on molarity has you choose between .504M and .539M). I relied on my calculator in all my pre-req courses and struggle with doing quick calculations in my head. Is there a MCAT math specific book anyone would recommend to help with arithmetic (decimals, fractions, percentages, interconverting between them, etc.)? Thanks!

 

[FutureDoc2]

So I started doing MCAT prep recently and have been following the BR books. What has been getting me is simple math. A lot of times in their explanations the BR books don't thoroughly explain the math they used to get the correct answer without a calculator (for example, one question on molarity has you choose between .504M and .539M). I relied on my calculator in all my pre-req courses and struggle with doing quick calculations in my head. Is there a MCAT math specific book anyone would recommend to help with arithmetic (decimals, fractions, percentages, interconverting between them, etc.)? Thanks!

Do you mind telling us what question your referring to in TBR? What has helped me with calculations is trying to simplify the #s into simpler terms. One of the ways TBR teaches you to do this is to memorize simple fractions such as 1/5=.2, 1/6=.167 all the through 1/11=.091 and 1/12= .083, by doing this, you are able to conduct ranges, where the answer in the question falls within a specific range. This is soooooo much easier than doing calculations. Even if you find two answers fall with a specific range, you will know the answer is closer to one of the fractions in that range, which will help you eliminate one of the choices and ultimately choose the correct answer. I hope this wasn't confusing :\

 

[paperaeroplane]

The question was asking for the molarity- you were given the mass percent and the density. It's on page 6 of the gen chem 1 book. I guess what I had trouble with was how they assumed you knew how to calculate in your head what 3% of 50g is. They didn't explain how they did that....I'm really rusty on arithmetic too, so that's why I was wondering if there was a book devoted specifically to simple math like this. I also don't really understand how they come up with fractions that are greater than or less than the actual answer to compare the answer to. But thanks for your explanation- I haven't gotten that deep into the book at all, so maybe they explain math later on, but this one example really confused me.

Do you mind telling what question your referring to in TBR? What has helped me with calculations is trying to simplify the #s into simpler terms. One of the ways TBR teaches you to do this is to memorizes simple fractions such as 1/5=.2, 1/6=.167 all the through 1/11=.091 and 1/12= .083, by doing this, you are able to conduct ranges, where the answer in the question falls within a specific range. This is soooooo much easier than doing calculations. Even if you find two answers fall with a specific range, you will know the answer is closer to one of the fractions in that range, which will help you eliminate one of the choices and ultimately choosing the correct answer. I hope this wasn't confusing :\

 

[MT Headed]

they assumed you knew how to calculate in your head what 3% of 50g is. They didn't explain how they did that....

"percent" means "1/100"
"of" means "multiplied by"

3% of 50 g
3/100 x 50 g
3/2 g
1.5 g

 

[Erythropoietin]

So I started doing MCAT prep recently and have been following the BR books. What has been getting me is simple math. A lot of times in their explanations the BR books don't thoroughly explain the math they used to get the correct answer without a calculator (for example, one question on molarity has you choose between .504M and .539M). I relied on my calculator in all my pre-req courses and struggle with doing quick calculations in my head. Is there a MCAT math specific book anyone would recommend to help with arithmetic (decimals, fractions, percentages, interconverting between them, etc.)? Thanks!

i dont think theres a book that specifically focuses on that but what you can do is do random calculations quickly as u can and then check if its correct with a calculator. TBR goes in a lot detail with math, so dont feel too bad if you can't do most of them

 

[HerbalPlz]

"percent" means "1/100"
"of" means "multiplied by"

3% of 50 g
3/100 x 50 g
3/2 g
1.5 g

Good method.

Here's another one:

3% of 50g
Find 1%, multiply that by 3.
Easy way to find 1%:
First find 10% of 50g...which is 5g.
Take another 10% of that 5g = 0.5g. So what you've done so far is taken 10% of 50, and then a 2nd 10% for the value you got for 10% of 50, i.e. 1% of 50g.
Now just multiply by 3 to get 3% of 50g = 0.5x3 = 1.5g

 

[liveoak]

practice. don't touch a calculator during mcat prep. use a ti-89 only to confirm your results.

practice. eventually you'll be amazed by how your calculator dominated undergrad.

 

[SN2ed]

Have you taken a look at the Arithmetic Tricks thread? http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=528674&highlight=Arithmetic+Tips+Tricks

 

[Erythropoietin]

yeah i also found that small EK book to be helpful

 

[shaggybill]

Here's a handy little .pdf that I printed out to look at when studying to help me through my brain farts.

http://www.premed411.com/pdfs/math.pdf

 

[PinknGreenMD]

Here's a handy little .pdf that I printed out to look at when studying to help me through my brain farts.

http://www.premed411.com/pdfs/math.pdf

Thats awesome! Thanks. 🙂

 

[MDPhDJourney]

Examkrackers had a brief section on doing math without use of a calculator. I found that to be immensely helpful since I had grown so used to my calculator 😛. Apart from that, most of the computational questions on the MCAT (at least my version) usually differed by powers (rather than small decimals).

Exactly which ExamKrackers book are you referring too?

 

[Suz]

Have you taken a look at the Arithmetic Tricks thread? http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=528674&highlight=Arithmetic+Tips+Tricks

I used an SAT Math IIC study book to get better (faster) with math. I'd strongly recommend that.

 

[SN2ed]

Exactly which ExamKrackers book are you referring too?

Most likely this one: http://www.amazon.com/ExamKrackers-...sr_ob_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320759019&sr=1-7

 

[BurntFlower]

Thank you for creating this thread! I also had trouble with that exact TBR problem and the advice here has been invaluable. 🙂

 

[NickNaylor]

The EK set includes a little manual that goes over tips and tricks for MCAT math. I found that to be pretty helpful but not worth buying on its own.

 

[ridethecliche]

I think it would be worth the ~10 bucks to pick it up if it helps.

Or just borrow it from a friend...

 

[liveoak]

don't read any books. Figure out the "tricks" by yourself through continuous practice. Calculations are a pain in the PS section when that 70 minutes is ticking......