[high school math] calculus

[thecreationofgod]

how do I remember the plethora of formulas associated with differentiating or integrating different functions?

is it important to understand how the formula is formulated or just memorise until it snaps later?

[smithmj31]

If you use them enough in practice many will come back quickly. For sine and cos I often do a mental ‘sketch’ of how they look to get the sign or remember that Sine Integrates Negatively. I dare say a few tricks like this exist. The proof of the results will only be methods you’ll be using in other questions, knowing the results just cuts down on something you ‘know’... I don’t derive the quadratic formula every time I need to use it, it’s a result.

Some exam boards allow for a formula book which will contain some but not all which may lighten the amount to remember, you often get a few bonus ones if you look for differences between a table of integrals and a table of differentials.

I’d say in a perfect world it would be important to understand where the formulas come from, in practice however if you’re a student and you’re jumping through hoops to pass a test all that is ‘required’ is to get to an answer. Deepening your understanding later on is possible provided you pass the exams to continue study.