how to get a 5 on AP CALC AB (1000% GUARANTEED)

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]So, the AP Calc AB exam is coming up, and you're probably panicking because you either didn't pay attention all year or you understand absolutely nothing about derivatives and integrals. I was once in the same spot as you, confused, stressed, and wondering how I was supposed to learn an entire year of calculus in like 3 days. But, don't worry because if you watch this video, you are guaranteed a five. In this video, I'm going to go over everything you actually need to know for the AP Calc AB exam, from what to study to how to get easy points on it. have a month left, then yeah, do practice and pay attention [music] in class. But, if you got like only a few days left, don't panic. You don't need to know every single thing about AP Calc AB, just the most important stuff. So, definitely don't cram every single piece of information like really specific integrals or derivatives or trig identities. Just take the tips in this video and go over the material that is most common on the exam. Honestly, Calc AB is not about memorizing a ton of random things. It's more about understanding a few key concepts and knowing how to apply them in different situations. So, if you feel lost, focus on the fundamentals. That's where you're going to get most of your points from.

[00:01:07]Okay, first, what do you actually need to know for AP Calc AB? There are actually only really three big topics: limits, derivatives, integrals. If you understand these, you pretty much know everything you need to know for the [music] exam. And in actuality, these topics overlap a ton, so knowing one will help you understand the others. For limits, they're basically asking what value is a function approaching. You don't need to go crazy with these, just know how to evaluate limits from graphs, recognize when limits don't exist, and understanding continuity. Also, know how to use L'Hopital's rule since it really helps with more complex limits. If you're really good at derivatives, then it helps with all limits. I'm not going to go into depth on how to actually solve limits, but just know how to solve them in these different situations. Now, for derivatives, this is the most important topic on the exam, so I would definitely place more emphasis on how to do these. A derivative is just the rate of change or the slope of a function.

[00:02:03]Understanding that can help you visualize derivatives much easier. Think of an example like this. The derivative of a position over time function is a velocity over time function, [music] and the derivative of that is an acceleration over time function. Just make sure to understand that topic of how derivatives kind of make functions more simple. Now, you actually need to know how to solve derivatives. For this, you're going to need a few rules. Power rule, product and quotient rule, chain rule, and derivatives of trig and natural log functions. Power rule is probably the most important rule. For all the basic derivatives, you are going [music] to need to use power rule. And even for the more complex derivatives, you're going to have to use power rule [music] within them. Product rule and quotient rule are for when you're multiplying or dividing two different functions and want to find their derivative. These are formulas that you just kind of need to remember. It's kind of hard to remember which function goes where, so definitely try to drill that into your brain. Chain rule is also a super important rule that you have to know. You need to know this for the more complex derivatives where a function is inside of a function, and you need to find a derivative of that. It's pretty simple, just make sure you know how to do it. And for the derivatives of trig and natural log functions, these are the derivatives that you kind of just have to know. Just remember what the derivatives of those functions are.

[00:03:22]There are also a lot of basic derivatives that you can just remember, but for majority of them, you can just use the power rule to find it. It might seem like a lot to remember, but after you do some practice and really understand it, it'll start to become common sense. For when to use derivatives, you're going to want to know how to use them to find the max or the min of a function or its critical points, what intervals a function are increasing or decreasing, the concavity of a function, which you'll get by the second derivative, and tangent lines, which you'll also use derivatives for.

[00:03:53]If you're really cramming, prioritize power and chain rule, critical points, and interpreting derivatives from graphs and tables. If you have the time, just make sure to do plenty of practice [music] for these questions in order to know when to use what rules when, and to familiarize yourself with how to apply them. Now, for integrals, they're basically just the opposite of derivatives. They deal with accumulation as a result of a function. So, basically, they're the area under the curve of a function. Using the same example from earlier, the integral of an acceleration function gives velocity, and the integral of a velocity function gives a displacement. For this, you're going to want to know how to do basic anti-derivatives, which are just the equations that give you an integral.

[00:04:32]Just make sure not to forget plus C at the end of all of them. And with those anti-derivative equations, you can find the definite [music] integrals, which are the area under curves. For both anti-derivatives and integrals, you're going to want to know how to do U-substitution. [music] It's for more complex integrals. And knowing how to find the area under and between curves is really important. Things like Riemann sums and such, if you're given a graph, or finding the integral of another function minus another function to find the area [music] between those two graphs. Also, you're going to want to know how to use the washer method and disk method to find the volume of rotating functions. If you see a problem with an integral or bounds, think net area or total accumulation. And if you are on the calculator section when you see a definite integral, make sure to know how to use your calculator to just find the answers. Since you can just plug in the equation and get the answer.

[00:05:22][music] But in my experience, they don't really put those kinds of questions on the calculator section. They put them in the non-calculator section just to make [music] it harder for some reason.

[00:05:30]Moving on to the exam structure, there are two sections, multiple [music] choice and free response. For multiple choice, there going to be two parts, 30 questions with no calculator and 15 with calculator. The biggest tip I can give is just to practice. If you know all the information that I stated previously, the questions won't really be hard, but they are very tricky in their wording and what they're asking you to solve for. Make sure to read carefully and figure out what the question is actually trying to ask you, whether you need to find an integral, limit, or derivative, and then figure out what rules you need to use to solve for the answer. Use your calculator when you can to make sure you get those easy [music] points. They definitely try to trick you by making options very similar, so be very careful when you're reading. Another big tip that I'll give is to not spend too much time on one question. There's definitely going to be some questions that you'll just never really know how to solve. So, instead of just frying your brain for several minutes and staring at the question, just skip it and do another question and build up that momentum and serotonin [music] to think better. Also, you can probably often find information in one question that helps you answer another question. But all in all, don't leave any question blank. Choose a random answer if you really are unsure of what it could be. Now, for the FRQs, there are six in total, two where you can use calculator and four where you can't. Each question is broken into many parts and you can get points for each part. [music] So, even if you don't finish, write something. If you're thinking you need to use a specific formula or find a derivative, but are unsure of what to do after, just write what you think and you can get some points for that. [music] For how to approach FRQs, one, read the question very carefully. Two, identify what concept it's testing. [music] And three, show your work clearly, going through each step you take, even if [music] you use a calculator. Even if your answer is wrong, you can still get points for correct steps. [music] Some common FRQ types are rate in and rate out problems, which are usually about accumulation like water filling a tank. So, for this, you're going to want to use integrals.

[00:07:28]Another one is graph analysis where you'll be given a graph or table and will be asked about concavity, [music] stuff like that, so you'll be using derivatives. Another one is function plus derivative relationships, so if you're given F, you're asked about F prime or vice versa. But, aside from those, there are many different kinds of FRQs. So, the biggest piece of advice that I can give is to look back on previous exams to see what kind of questions they are asking and to figure out how to approach them. Another important thing, always include units when you're asked and make sure to interpret your answer within the context of the problem. Like, don't just say 12, say 12 L per minute. It's simple, but somehow we always forget, so and same thing for the calculator, it's really clutch for solving equations, evaluating integrals, and graphing functions, but definitely don't rely on it for everything. You're going to want to know how to implement rules on non-calculator sections and many times doing it by hand is actually faster. And for my final piece of advice, sleep early the night before. Don't try to cram everything in one day. You're not going to remember it all. And if you're tired, you won't really be able to think straight and you won't really be able to understand problems. Calculus really requires focus for critical thinking. So, make sure you get a lot of sleep. And that's pretty much it. The exam might look really scary, but it's actually really repetitive. There's so many rules that you're going to have to use so many times. Just stay calm, write something down, maybe you'll get some points. Try not to give up halfway through. This video isn't really an in-depth overview about the exam, but just important tips if you're running out of time. I remember going through my exam and thinking I was finished, but you just got to persist and try not to give up.

[00:09:11]There's so many ways to get points, so just write an equation down, you're about to get some points. Thank you for watching this video. Comment down below any videos you want next or any questions that you have. Smash that like button, hit that subscribe button, tap the bell icon, and I'll see you whatever.