EquateIt Calculus Shortcuts on CAS
Stationary points, tangents, sign tables and area-between-curves — the calculus questions in Exam 2, each reduced to one command.
Where calculus marks leak in Exam 2
The calculator-active Methods exam rewards speed and accuracy on routine calculus: finding and classifying stationary points, building a sign table, computing the area enclosed between two curves, evaluating an average rate or average value. None of these are hard ideas — but keyed by hand through nested menus, they're slow and error-prone, and a single sign slip in a sign chart can cascade into the wrong classification.
The EquateIt Calculus pack turns each into a named command: stps(f, x) returns the stationary
points with local-max/min classification, signtab(f, x) draws the sign table,
tangsolve(f, x, x0, y0) finds tangents from an external point, and
boundarea / boundaread compute the area between curves (optionally restricted to a
domain). There are also numerical-method helpers — newtons, trapapprox — and parameter
tools (nstp, npoi, nroot) for "how many stationary points / roots" questions.
Download the full set from the CAS UDF library. For Specialist students, the same fluency carries into harder integration and kinematics — see VCE Specialist tutoring, or Methods tutoring to lock in the technique behind the shortcut.
The functions you'll use
avgroc(f, x, lo, hi) Average rate of change
avgval(f, x, lo, hi) Average value of a function
boundarea(f1, f2, x) Area between two curves
boundaread(f1, f2, x, lo, hi) Area between curves in domain
intguess Integral multiple choice solver
newtons(f, x, x0, n) Newton's method
nroot(poly, x, k, n) Parameter values for n roots
nstp(poly, x, k, n) Parameter values for n stationary points
npoi(poly, x, k, n) Parameter values for n points of inflection
pois(f, x) Points of inflection
signtab(f, x) Sign table for stationary points
stps(f, x) Stationary points
tangsolve(f, x, x0, y0) Tangent lines through a point
trapapprox(f, x, lo, hi, n) Trapezoidal approximation
Store it once, use it in the exam
- 1
Open the Program Editor
On a Calculator page, press Menu → Functions & Programs → Program Editor → New. Name it after the function — for example, stps for stationary points.
Screenshot: open the program editor (coming soon) - 2
Paste the function from the Calculus pack
Copy the definition (stps, tangsolve, boundarea, and the rest of the Calculus pack) from the downloaded file and paste it between Prgm and EndPrgm. Mark each as a public library function (LibPub).
Screenshot: paste the function from the calculus pack (coming soon) - 3
Save into MyLib and Refresh Libraries
Save the document into the MyLib folder, then Menu → Refresh Libraries. Every calculus shortcut is now available by name across all your exam documents.
Screenshot: save into mylib and refresh libraries (coming soon) - 4
Call the right tool for the question
Type stps(f, x) for stationary points with classification, signtab(f, x) for a sign table, tangsolve(f, x, x0, y0) for tangents through a point, boundarea(f1, f2, x) for the area between curves, or avgroc / avgval for average rate / average value.
Screenshot: call the right tool for the question (coming soon) - 5
Use it to check, not replace, your method
In Exam 2 these shortcuts confirm answers and save minutes; in Exam 1 (tech-free) you still need the by-hand technique. Use the UDF results to verify your working and catch sign errors before you commit them to paper.
Screenshot: use it to check, not replace, your method (coming soon)
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