PCAT Math section

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chemtai

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Can any one tell me how hard the integral/derivative questions can be in PCAT? It is painful to remember all the integral equations, especially for the ones like derivative of 1/sinx, or integral of 1/(a2+x2), etc.
I'm working for the exam on Jan 22.
Thanks.
 
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I had some sort of a trig integral on my version of the PCAT, but it was like sin (6x) dx. However, I would not worry about integration by parts or the arcsin integrals. I was shocked that I saw the one that I had on my version of the PCAT.

I would be MUCH more worried about logarithms and Pre-Calc concepts.
 
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chemguy79 said:
I had some sort of a trig integral on my version of the PCAT, but it was like sin (6x) dx. However, I would not worry about integration by parts or the arcsin integrals. I was shocked that I saw the one that I had on my version of the PCAT.

I would be MUCH more worried about logarithms and Pre-Calc concepts.
Click to expand...

Thank you.
 
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That was before. I spoke to several people that took the Oct exam and they were surprised as to how much calc and orgo was in the exam.
 
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Shadii said:
That was before. I spoke to several people that took the Oct exam and they were surprised as to how much calc and orgo was in the exam.
Click to expand...

Erm ... I had quite a bit of calc and orgo on my exam as well. However, the calculus was extremely simple calculus like implicit differentiation, chain rule, and a limit question. However, I do not believe that you would see an integration by parts or an inverse trig function integral on your exam. Besides, if you look at the breakdown of questions, the concepts that concerned me were logs, factoring, and the "silly math" that I learned in 9th and 10th grade.

I had tons of Orgo II on my exam which made me giddy since I was a lab TA for General Chemistry & Organic Chemistry in graduate school.

Bottom line, when in doubt, know everything ... within reason.
 
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I don't actually remember ANY hard math on the pcat....the day i took it (and I did more or less just for fun😛), the hardest question only involved squaring a complex number.🙂
I think looking at integration is a waste for the pcat. ps. if you've taken calc II I think you don't need to study at all for the math section. (then again, just my opinion.)
 
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