Hey I have to take either Calc 3 or Diff Eq this fall to finish up my math portion of my degree. My question is, how beneficial is either of the classes to a science degree (mine is Biochemistry). I was considering Diff Eq because from what other have told me, many chemical equations are in fact differential equations. what do you think if you have taken either courses?
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Well I know that physical chem needs a very good knowledge of calc and usually recommend calc 3. However I think differential equations is covered in calc 3 (might be wrong) and the overal usefulness of either of those math classes is arguable 0.
I took both calc 3 and Diff Eq, and Diff Eq wasn't neccessarily harder than calculus.
Diff Eq is very useful in terms of application, but if you're a natural science major, you won't really get to use it in a classroom setting. I took pchem as well and didn't use diff eq.
Talk to your friends, advisors, and professors. See what they say and take whatever you're more comfortable with. Both are very doable subjects as long as you keep up with the material.
Diff Eq is very useful in terms of application, but if you're a natural science major, you won't really get to use it in a classroom setting. I took pchem as well and didn't use diff eq.
Talk to your friends, advisors, and professors. See what they say and take whatever you're more comfortable with. Both are very doable subjects as long as you keep up with the material.
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I thought Calc III was the easiest of the calculus sequence. DE, at least for me, was just a bunch of memorization and application. Both have their upsides and their downsides. I doubt you'll utilize either one in a major way in undergraduate classes, but I could be wrong. If you don't have to have a particular one for future classes, just pick whichever one you think will be cooler. Or flip a coin.
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Yikes.If you're just taking it for another math credit, I would go with Calc 3. At least at my undergrad, diffeq is aka "Difficult Equations," and is not something to take unless you're genuinely interested in the material.
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Calc. 3. It's needed more for biochemistry, though diff e.q. is more useful in general, allowing u to solve for any equations.
yea i have heard that too, its easier for those who did well in calc 1 because its basically calc 1 with an extra variable. im not too worried about difficulty, id rather take the class with a better application to my research i have to complete or just in general so.. yea
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I did my undergrad in chemistry and biology and my PhD in chemical biology, and diff. eq. was easily one of the most useful classes I've ever taken. I probably couldn't solve any except for the simplest of equations anymore, but that class taught me how to think about the way a system will behave. It's difficult, but worth it. Calc 3, on the other hand, I never think about.
thats what im talking about! ok thanks for that info. what makes it so much more difficult? ive seen a few of my friends work in the class and it seems, if not easy, pretty accessible, atleast to me. what was difficult for u?
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It's all professor dependent. My ODE prof was a hardass, and every time you got a test back from him it felt like you were being verbally abused by a red pen. I don't think the subject material is actually all that difficult once you get the feel for it, but it can take a little time to adapt to that way of thinking. I didn't think it was any more difficult than any of the calc series.
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At my school, multivariable calc is required and differential equations recommended, for biochemistry major.
multivariable calculus is very interesting, but professors can make it extremely hard. i just had a heinous final
i've heard that differential equations is the easiest of the math series. so if you have no interest in learning how to parameterizing surfaces or learning theorems you'll probably never get any use out of, i'd take differential equations.
in fact, i MIGHT take differential equations just for fun since i've heard it's so much easier than multivariable.
multivariable calculus is very interesting, but professors can make it extremely hard. i just had a heinous final
i've heard that differential equations is the easiest of the math series. so if you have no interest in learning how to parameterizing surfaces or learning theorems you'll probably never get any use out of, i'd take differential equations.
in fact, i MIGHT take differential equations just for fun since i've heard it's so much easier than multivariable.
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I'm a biochemistry major and the only time I've needed to use real math is in physics. Everything else has been predominantly concept-based.
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I'd say so. ODE is one of those classes where the concepts apply to a ton of situations, and you don't need to know the nitty-gritty of everything in the class for it to be useful. I really think that it just gives you a good way to think about a huge number of scientific problems, and it applies to all sorts of chemical and biological situations. Pharmacodynamics, circulation, neuron function, etc, are all modeled using differential equations (seldom linear, but the ideas still apply). I'd be hard pressed to name one instance that calc 3 has been useful to me since I took that class. I've actually used concepts from modern algebra more than calc 3, and that **** is obscure.
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I'd also like to add that, just as a warning, the class won't necessarily be taught as a concept-based course. It can be easy to get bogged down in the details of how to solve ODEs and the various theorems about existence and uniqueness of solutions, the application of transforms, etc. Just try to keep the big picture in mind.
great to keep in mind. but i just got an email back from one of my advisors and they have said almost the same thing. the only thing they said that might be a problem is the portion of the class that deals with 3D equations might be a bit rough. i think i might still go with diff eq
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Usually they throw in some more advanced topics and a grab bag of cases that ODEs can't handle at the end of the semester. 3D-ODEs aren't that bad -- they usually just end up as ODEs of vectors -- and the other topics tend to at least be interesting. You'll definitely deal with more 3D stuff in calc 3 compared to diff eq.
If you have any other choices, I'd also highly recommend taking a probability theory class, but I know that really isn't in the same area of math. That class can really be a bitch though, but at least it's useful.
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Seeing as how you are leaning towards the class that would be more useful to your research/in general and not towards the easier-A, I would bet that if you went with multivar, you would feel guilty for cheating yourself.
so you are saying go with diff eq?? haha
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Yes, haha. You are interested in it. You'll do fine. Possible resource/maybe check out the first couple of lectures and see if you can picture yourself taking it/handling the material/whatever it may be: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-03-differential-equations-spring-2006/video-lectures/
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i think that if you put in equal efford into all classes, this is the factor that will decide pretty much how well you will do in this class. for that i mean, the teacher can make the material extra hard, so every one sort of fails, or extra easy, so every one walks around with an A. that was my micro bio and calc 3 class. the individual instructor offered EC at the very end of class, there were 3 instructor teaching 3 different calc 3 classes, only mine gave that out. thus i had A in both classes.
