Key takeaway: Calculus terms describe change and accumulation: limits and continuity first, then derivatives and their rules, then integrals, differential equations and their applications.
Calculus has two big ideas, the derivative and the integral, and a single foundation, the limit. These calculus terms follow the order of the AP Calculus AB course, so you can read them as a short tour of the year.
Every page includes a graph, such as a tangent line, a set of Riemann rectangles or a slope field, and a problem solved the way the exam expects.
37 terms on this page, each with a definition, a figure and a worked example.
Calculus Terms: the full list
Grade 12 – AP Calculus AB
- Antiderivative AP Calculus AB Unit 6
- Area Between Curves AP Calculus AB Unit 8
- Average Value of a Function AP Calculus AB Unit 8
- Chain Rule AP Calculus AB Unit 3
- Concavity AP Calculus AB Unit 5
- Continuity AP Calculus AB Unit 1
- Critical Point AP Calculus AB Unit 5
- Definite Integral AP Calculus AB Unit 6
- Derivative AP Calculus AB Unit 2
- Derivative Rules AP Calculus AB Unit 2
- Differential Equation AP Calculus AB Unit 7
- Disk Method AP Calculus AB Unit 8
- Equation of a Tangent Line AP Calculus AB Unit 2
- Extreme Value Theorem AP Calculus AB Unit 5
- First Derivative Test AP Calculus AB Unit 5
- Fundamental Theorem of Calculus AP Calculus AB Unit 6
- Implicit Differentiation AP Calculus AB Unit 3
- Inflection Point AP Calculus AB Unit 5
- Integral AP Calculus AB Unit 6
- Intermediate Value Theorem AP Calculus AB Unit 1
- L'Hôpital's Rule AP Calculus AB Unit 4
- Limit AP Calculus AB Unit 1
- Limit at Infinity AP Calculus AB Unit 1
- Limit Definition of the Derivative AP Calculus AB Unit 2
- Mean Value Theorem AP Calculus AB Unit 5
- One-Sided Limit AP Calculus AB Unit 1
- Optimization (Calculus) AP Calculus AB Unit 5
- Power Rule AP Calculus AB Unit 2
- Product Rule AP Calculus AB Unit 2
- Quotient Rule AP Calculus AB Unit 2
- Related Rates AP Calculus AB Unit 4
- Riemann Sum AP Calculus AB Unit 6
- Second Derivative Test AP Calculus AB Unit 5
- Separation of Variables AP Calculus AB Unit 7
- Slope Field AP Calculus AB Unit 7
- Squeeze Theorem AP Calculus AB Unit 1
- U-Substitution AP Calculus AB Unit 6