Help! Is it possible to improve the speed and accuracy of doing conics questions? (1 Viewer)

[nikitasuitsrevenge]

Lately, I did my half-yearlies which had both curve sketching and conics. I most likely failed, despite only not knowing how to do a two-marker question, I didn't have the time to do almost any long conics questions due to my really slow calculations. I just recently dropped to ten units, so I'm extremely worried. Is it possible to improve my speed, because I know my stuff, I just find it so easy to make silly mistakes, and then having to repeat the whole entire question. Please give me some advice, thanks.

 

[Carrotsticks]

The only way really to improve your speed is to practise questions to the point where the processes become second nature to you.

So say you want to prove that ON x OT = OS^2, processes involved would include finding the equation of the normal and tangent, then finding their X intercepts, then using the formula b^2=a^2(1-e^2).

A lot of these processes are very straightforward (in terms of theory) but there are a lot of them. So you'll need to be very quick at calculating these things and working out what you need to do.

Also, before you dig into the question, have a 'mental scaffold' of what you want to do. ie: First, I will find the equation of A, then let y=0, then same for equation B, then I will multiply them together etc etc.

When you have this 'mental scaffold', you spend more time 'doing' than just stumbling all over the page and then hoping you'll stumble into the correct solution.

 

[panda15]

It's just practice. By the end of 4U, I could write out the derivation of every formula used in conics because I went over them so much. Repetition will also help you notice if you make a small error in your working, which is easy to do.
And as Carrotsticks said, look at what the question requires you to prove before you attack the question, and try to figure out how to get there rather than just aimlessly writing all over the page.

Also, don't be too concerned about your speed if you are basing it on an exam that involved a lot of conics. Conic questions take a very long time to do, and seeing as half the exam was conics, it would have been hard for you to finish. When you do exams that don't involve as much conics, you shouldn't have as much problems with speed.

 

[nikitasuitsrevenge]

Thanks for your comments.

 

[Sy123]

Conics is just algebra, become fast at algebra and you become fast at Conics (mostly)

To get fast at algebra you just need to increase your computational speed, this can be done through practice.

Some things you can do are: Don't write down every step, skip steps here and there and be confident in your accuracy, most Conics questions are 'Show that's' anyway so if you don't arrive at what you needed all it takes is a simple skim back through your solution to see where you went wrong.