Math!!!

[Sainttpk]

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Hello there,

I know that some medical schools require Calculus, that is not my question.

My question is whether you think taking trig /precalculus came in handy with your physics classes? Did you feel that it gave you an advantage? I just finished algebra and I am curious as to what others think? Should I take some more math? thanks

 

[shenningdo]

Hello there,

I know that some medical schools require Calculus, that is not my question.

My question is whether you think taking trig /precalculus came in handy with your physics classes? Did you feel that it gave you an advantage? I just finished algebra and I am curious as to what others think? Should I take some more math? thanks

It depends on the physics class. For my degree, calculus-based physics was required. If your degree only requires basic physics, you should be ok with algebra, though trig would be an added benefit. There are a lot of angles in physics where trig might help in figuring them out. You certainly do not need precalc or calculus before you take algebra-based physics. Good luck!

 

[chirodoc]

I aced Physics 1 & 2 and got a C in algebra. Go figure. I aced Rad physics and keep dropping a Trig class I need to get done. I'm sure it helps but sometimes things don't make sense.

Good luck...and take the class b/c it looks like everyone will eventually require it anyway. CLEP is dropping Algebra and Trig next year in favor of a PreCalc test so it's becoming common place for this integreated class.

 

[DrBowtie]

Hello there,

I know that some medical schools require Calculus, that is not my question.

My question is whether you think taking trig /precalculus came in handy with your physics classes? Did you feel that it gave you an advantage? I just finished algebra and I am curious as to what others think? Should I take some more math? thanks

If you can do basic sin, cos, tan, arcsin, arccos, arctan, pythagorean, sin law and cosine law you will be golden when it comes to trig.

 

[BradenDO]

If you can do basic sin, cos, tan, arcsin, arccos, arctan, pythagorean, sin law and cosine law you will be golden when it comes to trig.

Yep, I agree with you. That's all we use in my Physics 1 class, but the teacher took a poll to see if the school should start requiring Trig as a prereq to physics. I think the results were split, but in my opinion it would be a waste of time and money since all we use is what you mentioned above.

 

[dr.z]

Eventhough I took calc based physics, what I learned in the calc course didn't really help me much.

 

[The Engineer]

It depends on your degree and what you want out of the class. I took calculus based physics because I am an engineer and many of my science major friends took the algebra based physics. I feel that I learned much more out of my course than they did in theirs. However, depending on how the course shows up on your transcript, it may not make that much of difference when it comes to the admissions boards.