applied linear algebra

[bwonger06]

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Is this math course considered hard? (hard as in harder then DifEq and Calc III)

I have to take this class soon and am really afraid of it.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Is this math course considered hard? (hard as in harder then DefEq and Calc III)

I have to take this class soon and am really afraid of it.

you're not going to find many people on this board that have even considered taking that course.

as a physics major, I've heard that linear algebra is easier than DiffEq, but its really dependent on how hard the prof is. Ask around at your school...

 

[SamaraMorgan]

.

 

[DrAverageJoe]

It's not a tough course at all. I found applied math/linear algebra to be one of the easiest math classes I've taken.

 

[stat3113]

coming from a math major, it should be one of the easier classes you'll take. Assuming this is your school's elementary course in linear algebra, that is. here, we have an intro to matrices (with a calc i,ii prereq) and then we have linear algebra itself (which requires the intro to matrices). the former is very easy, while the latter is more involved.

 

[bwonger06]

ok thanks. its just a pretty high numbered upper division course, so i was freaking out a little.

 

[deuist]

Linear algebra is the easiest math course you can take as an undergraduate.

 

[jash0624]

Linear algebra is the easiest math course you can take as an undergraduate.

And the most tedious. I got a B- in Linear Algebra simply because it was so mind numbingly boring to me. Give me ODEs any day.

 

[TPROrgoTutor2]

Should be easy. I was a math major, stopped after PDiffEq bc while it came very easily, it was too boring. Linear was going to be taken the next semester and from any research I did on the class it is supposed to be cake enough.

 

[deuist]

And the most tedious. I got a B- in Linear Algebra simply because it was so mind numbingly boring to me. Give me ODEs any day.

I remember differential equations being pretty tedious, too. I took the 6 week summer version and spent almost four hours each night doing homework.

 

[MullieWins]

Like everyone is saying, linear algebra is easy. However, at my school we have three courses...linear algebra, advanced linear algebra, and applied linear algebra. If the course is highly numbered, it is probably the equivalent of our applied linear algebra, which is fairly difficult. It is mostly theory involving group, rings, and fields, and a proof-heavy work load. The word "applied" is a bit misleading. Hope this helps!

 

[MeBeans]

Is this math course considered hard? (hard as in harder then DifEq and Calc III)

I have to take this class soon and am really afraid of it.

If you have to take it, then it's not upper div (unless you're math/engineering major). It won't be too conceptual or proof based and won't be that bad.
If you've ever worked with matrices before (beyond 3x3's), then the lower div version of this class will be a breeze.

 

[bwonger06]

Its an upper divion 300 level math class required for my engineering degree. Thats why i am afraid.

 

[jash0624]

I remember differential equations being pretty tedious, too. I took the 6 week summer version and spent almost four hours each night doing homework.

Diff. Eq. is a lot of work, yes, but I felt that Linear Algebra was mainly a vocab course.

 

[HumbleMD]

Everything was downhill from Calc III.

 

[szhao]

they are all easy, the only thing i would stire away from is graph theory, hahaha 12hours + on homeworks that got me 50%s lol. well i guess the other students failed more so i got an A.

 

[ComicBookDude]

Pretty easy course if you ask me. Much more interesting that ODE.

 

[DeadCactus]

The one Engineers have to take is easy. Just tedious. Just be careful not to get too laid back in the first part of the semester. It's ridiculously easy for the first few weeks and it makes some people too comfortable...

 

[szhao]

lol o yea by the way i am TAing this course next semester, i will tell you how badly i fail people. on multivariable, i failed approximately 80% of the class because they can't find mid points or speed from velocity

 

[novawildcat]

this class should not be too hard. since it is applied i doubt you will really thoroughly cover things like vector spaces and linear transformations in their more abstract forms. this class will probably be a lot of matrix manipulation and what your can interpret from them. do you have a syllabus for this course or know what it covers? as long as things stay in finite dimensions this should be easy. electrical engineers use things called hilbert spaces (which is basically infinite dimensional LA+advanced calc) all the time in applications, which is some really hardcore math. hopefully your course will not cover those.

 

[Construct]

I think the emphasis has to be on the APPLIED in applied linear algebra. If this course is only matrix arithmetic, then you should be fine...it will be extremely easy. However, if this course is proof intensive, it will be impossibly difficult for the average student.

I took a linear algebra course at my university and my professor decided to make it proof intensive. Simply put, it was the hardest math course I have ever taken to date.

Good luck proving that the transpose of an invertible normal matrix is the subset of an nxm eigenvector inside a vectorspace of ARRGHHGHHGHHH!!!

 

[tdkneo]

Is this math course considered hard? (hard as in harder then DifEq and Calc III)

I have to take this class soon and am really afraid of it.

i have to say, this class is pretty hard, for me anyways, i aced through the calculus series, ordinary diff eq, infinite math, yet i struggled just to get a B in this class.....but you might be different, give it a try..........

 

[staticsoliloquy]

I'm planning to take Math 51 next quarter. It's Linear Algebra and Differential Calculus of Several Variable.

I'm a humanities major, but I feel like every human being should learn some linalg, so that is my reason for taking it. Am I setting myself up for a huge failure? I took BC calculus when I was a junior in high school so it's been at least three years since I've had any math.

Are these topics difficult? (extrema, Lagrange multipliers, parametrized curves, kepler's laws, directional derivatives and the gradient, partial derivatives, systems of coordinates, eingenvectors, symmetric matrices, quadratic forms, linear transformation, composition and matric multiplication)

 

[szhao]

I'm planning to take Math 51 next quarter. It's Linear Algebra and Differential Calculus of Several Variable.

I'm a humanities major, but I feel like every human being should learn some linalg, so that is my reason for taking it. Am I setting myself up for a huge failure? I took BC calculus when I was a junior in high school so it's been at least three years since I've had any math.

Are these topics difficult? (extrema, Lagrange multipliers, parametrized curves, kepler's laws, directional derivatives and the gradient, partial derivatives, systems of coordinates, eingenvectors, symmetric matrices, quadratic forms, linear transformation, composition and matric multiplication)

lol they are all really easy, but make sure you stay ontop of it. i mean it is simple to do easy lagrange multiplier problems by converting it into 1-d, but DO NOT DO THAT.

 

[staticsoliloquy]

why not?

 

[szhao]

lol because you wont know how to do the harder problems, HAHA, literally 95% (lol u can't argue statistical outlier here) of the students in our multivariable class failed that question, just to bring it into perspective.

 

[MeBeans]

Its an upper divion 300 level math class required for my engineering degree. Thats why i am afraid.

In that case it'll probably 90% pure theory and the rest application of that theory.
Be expected to write a lot of proofs - contradiction, induction, contraposition, etc - though this probably varies a lot with schools and teachers.

It'll probably go into vector spaces and dependant matrices to start out, then get in really deep with eignvectors/vals, isomorphs and devising/showing orthoganalibility... wow, why do I remember this???

 

[imtiaz]

i miss math 🙁

linear algebra is easier than ODE, but real analysis is harder than both of them.

 

[rachmoninov3]

Just finished linear algebra, got a B. Seriously, it's algebra, but all put into matrices. There are a few cool concepts like eigenvalues/eigenvectors that help with solving ODEs, and the determinant (which I still can't tell you what it is, other than that it's cool).
But a lot of it depends on the professor. linear is one of the elective math courses at my school so my prof. only covered what he thought was important. That made the course really laid back.
But one note: IT TAKES A LOT OF ARITHEMATIC! IF YOU ARE CALCULATOR DEPENDENT, IT WILL BE A TOUGH COURSE JUST B/C OF ALL THE ARITHMATIC IT TAKES TO GET TO THE RREF FORM. (and I haven't found a calculator program to do that, but matlab does!)

 

[psy3]

Just finished linear algebra, got a B. Seriously, it's algebra, but all put into matrices. There are a few cool concepts like eigenvalues/eigenvectors that help with solving ODEs, and the determinant (which I still can't tell you what it is, other than that it's cool).
But a lot of it depends on the professor. linear is one of the elective math courses at my school so my prof. only covered what he thought was important. That made the course really laid back.
But one note: IT TAKES A LOT OF ARITHEMATIC! IF YOU ARE CALCULATOR DEPENDENT, IT WILL BE A TOUGH COURSE JUST B/C OF ALL THE ARITHMATIC IT TAKES TO GET TO THE RREF FORM. (and I haven't found a calculator program to do that, but matlab does!)

It really depends on the professor. Mine was a breeze until the final when the prof realized more than 75% of the class was getting over 90%. The final was full of super conceptual, tricky true/false questions and I got slaughtered 🙂.

 

[szhao]

It really depends on the professor. Mine was a breeze until the final when the prof realized more than 75% of the class was getting over 90%. The final was full of super conceptual, tricky true/false questions and I got slaughtered 🙂.

lol true false for linear algebra? haha half the fun is proving if something is a linear space or a specialized field in algebra

 

[whatisthis?]

No, it is not a hard class at all. If you just want to take some math classes for fun, I would suggest taking more applied math courses like statistics, numerical analysis or classes of that nature. Trust me, if you are not going into math, you are probably not going to see/understand the importance of linear algebra. You will probably never gonna see it again throughout your medical career. Why bother? applied math is the way to go!!! just my two cents.

Is this math course considered hard? (hard as in harder then DifEq and Calc III)

I have to take this class soon and am really afraid of it.