Physics without taking Calculus or Trigonometry

[Wrestler133]

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Two Physics courses are usually a prereq for most schools, next semester I will be taking Physics I, but have not taken Calculus or Trigonometry which I hear is needed greatly for that class and it is somewhat bothering me. I was wondering if there is anyone here that has taken Physics without either of those two classes beforehand, thanks

 

[psu17]

I took physics 1 and 2 without taking either class- however, my physics classes were algebra based rather than calculus based so I wouldn't have needed calculus anyways

Trig was a prerequisite for physics and I should have taken it before - but after my sophomore year I changed my option in my major (same major, different direction basically) and my advisor accidentally told me I could waive trig (it was also required for my major) - when it came time for me to take physics, she was like "I can't believe I told you that was OK" but said I could go ahead and take it if I felt comfortable.

I basically just did a quick trig refresher with one of my older engineering friends and I was ok (you basically just have to know sin/cosine/tangent) - but a good handful of grad schools do require trig so you might want to take it later anyways, if you can

I can't speak for calc though - if your physics is calc based I'd be concerned about that

 

[Wrestler133]

I took physics 1 and 2 without taking either class- however, my physics classes were algebra based rather than calculus based so I wouldn't have needed calculus anyways

Trig was a prerequisite for physics and I should have taken it before - but after my sophomore year I changed my option in my major (same major, different direction basically) and my advisor accidentally told me I could waive trig (it was also required for my major) - when it came time for me to take physics, she was like "I can't believe I told you that was OK" but said I could go ahead and take it if I felt comfortable.

I basically just did a quick trig refresher with one of my older engineering friends and I was ok (you basically just have to know sin/cosine/tangent) - but a good handful of grad schools do require trig so you might want to take it later anyways, if you can

I can't speak for calc though - if your physics is calc based I'd be concerned about that

The Physics courses I'll be taking aren't Calculus based, but some of the students I've talked to said that they had to take Trigonometry beforehand. Reading your post made me feel better seeing as my younger brother is a Computer Science major who is really good at math, so I'll probably have a crash course in the fundamentals of Trigonometry during my Winter break, and luckily none of the schools I will be applying to require Trigonometry, thanks!

 

[johncronejr]

I took Trig because my advisor said I would need it before taking Physics. We did use some trig functions, but it was covered as part of the physics lesson. It was just a waste of time and money ,in my opinion, to take an entire semester of trig.

 

[dizzy88]

How quick do you pick up math skills?

General Physics at my school was a nightmare. One of those 600 student weed-out courses. The only trig background I had was from high school and it was pretty difficult to remind myself of trig while still trying to understand the concepts in the class. That class definitely took a blow to my GPA 🙁

However, if you pick it up pretty quick, I wouldn't worry. Just make sure to take a look at some trig books during your break!

 

[DancerFutureDPT]

I took it without taking either of those classes, but I was in algebra-based physics (not calc-based).

The trig you can learn in class....it's basically basic sine, cosine, tangent (SOHCAHTOA is all you need to know). There are some online websites that will review trig functions if you think you need it. I don't have a list offhand, but if you google "basic trig review" I'm sure you'll find what you need 🙂

Don't worry too much about it....physics 1 is super easy. Physics II is what is impossible and it has nothing to do with the trig or calc 😛

 

[Wrestler133]

How quick do you pick up math skills?

General Physics at my school was a nightmare. One of those 600 student weed-out courses. The only trig background I had was from high school and it was pretty difficult to remind myself of trig while still trying to understand the concepts in the class. That class definitely took a blow to my GPA 🙁

However, if you pick it up pretty quick, I wouldn't worry. Just make sure to take a look at some trig books during your break!

Honestly, my math skills are not as good as I'd like them to be, but I make up for it by putting in extra study time and a bit of tutoring. I'd at least want to get by with at least a B in these two Physics courses which I feel will be the hardest for me, and I will most likely be taking Physics II my last semester right before I graduate so hopefully it all goes well with a little dedication.

 

[Wrestler133]

I took it without taking either of those classes, but I was in algebra-based physics (not calc-based).

The trig you can learn in class....it's basically basic sine, cosine, tangent (SOHCAHTOA is all you need to know). There are some online websites that will review trig functions if you think you need it. I don't have a list offhand, but if you google "basic trig review" I'm sure you'll find what you need 🙂

Don't worry too much about it....physics 1 is super easy. Physics II is what is impossible and it has nothing to do with the trig or calc 😛

Thanks for the tip! What do you mean Physics II is what is impossible? How difficult is it?

 

[DancerFutureDPT]

Thanks for the tip! What do you mean Physics II is what is impossible? How difficult is it?

I thought it was impossible and definitely cried myself to sleep after spending 6 hours on homework that I couldn't figure out. It's just a lot more conceptual. Physics I is stuff like incline planes, loads, pulleys...things you can actually see happening. If you put a ball on a hill, it'll roll faster the steeper the hill is. Physics II is stuff like magnetism and electric fields, so yeah you can see the light turn on after you flip a circuit, but you can't see the actual current flowing or the electrons moving around. It also uses really big or small numbers (like something x 10^23 or x10^-19), so it's hard to do the calculations and easy to get off by a power of 10.

Some people loved physics II though - for me it was really hard. Plus, there is really no connection to PT, so it's harder to push yourself through it. I guess the only connection would be we spent 5 minutes going over how x-rays actually work (which PTs don't need to know the actual electron flow behind an xray light beam...they just need a general idea as to how to read the x-ray a patient might bring in)....same thing with e-stim and such. Physics I is clearly PT related, especially when you take your kinesiology courses in PT school.

Good luck!

 

[dizzy88]

Honestly, my math skills are not as good as I'd like them to be, but I make up for it by putting in extra study time and a bit of tutoring. I'd at least want to get by with at least a B in these two Physics courses which I feel will be the hardest for me, and I will most likely be taking Physics II my last semester right before I graduate so hopefully it all goes well with a little dedication.

That's great! You should be okay. Really focus in on physics I the best you can. I'm taking kines right now and I really wish I would have retained that information a litter better. But, as it's already been mentioned, physics II was so pointless!

 

[markelmarcel]

I thought it was impossible and definitely cried myself to sleep after spending 6 hours on homework that I couldn't figure out. It's just a lot more conceptual.

I actually enjoyed Physics II much more than Physics I. haha. And, strangely enough, I am the department secretary for the physics department at a local university until I get accepted to school. 😛

 

[appisin]

I wouldn't worry because Trig based means knowing about angles and cos/sin/tan, which is like 1/2 hour max worth of knowledge. As a PT though, I would expect to have a great knowledge about angles, etc, so ya know, do well. 👍

 

[rlewx]

I'm also in this situation where I never took trig. The highest math I had in high school was geometry and I took an intro statistics class my sophomore year of college. I might sign up for Physics I for this summer but my advisor told me not to. Should I do it anyway if I'll be learning during the class anyway? I don't want to waste money.

 

[scrawnyguy]

I'm also in this situation where I never took trig. The highest math I had in high school was geometry and I took an intro statistics class my sophomore year of college. I might sign up for Physics I for this summer but my advisor told me not to. Should I do it anyway if I'll be learning during the class anyway? I don't want to waste money.

This is a 6 year thread so I unfortunately I don't think any of these folks will be around to answer your question, but I'll give it a shot. Do you know anyone who recently took the sequence at your school? They would probably be best suited to tell you whether or not Trig/Calc is really necessary. Other than my basic stats class I hadn't taken a math class since my freshman year of college way back in 2001. I went back to school to knock out my prereqs, including physics, in 2014 and although I needed to brush up on a few concepts, it wasn't totally overwhelming or anything. I'm definitely not a math whiz or anything like that and I still ended up with A's in Physics I and II.

 

[rlewx]

This is a 6 year thread so I unfortunately I don't think any of these folks will be around to answer your question, but I'll give it a shot. Do you know anyone who recently took the sequence at your school? They would probably be best suited to tell you whether or not Trig/Calc is really necessary. Other than my basic stats class I hadn't taken a math class since my freshman year of college way back in 2001. I went back to school to knock out my prereqs, including physics, in 2014 and although I needed to brush up on a few concepts, it wasn't totally overwhelming or anything. I'm definitely not a math whiz or anything like that and I still ended up with A's in Physics I and II.

Lol I didn't even realize how old this was and I'm new to this site. But they said it was a little tough but I'm sure if I just buckle down and study I'll be fine. I have access to a tutor as well. If you got an A without being a math whiz I sure can.

 

[scrawnyguy]

Lol I didn't even realize how old this was and I'm new to this site. But they said it was a little tough but I'm sure if I just buckle down and study I'll be fine. I have access to a tutor as well. If you got an A without being a math whiz I sure can.

To be fair if you asked me (or my poor wife who had to deal with me) the same question a year ago I might have had a different answer. I was taking an average of 3 science courses at a time, so the hardest part from me was mentally switching from a physics mindset to a chem mindset, to an A&P mindset pretty much within the same day. I left a solid career that I was very good at (but hated) to head back to school. I had my sights set on one of the most competitive programs in the country so getting anything less than a 4.0 for science prereqs wasn't an option in my mind.

 

[katelly]

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[Skyris]

Mathy stuff like physics is my weakest area. I took physics without trig (my counselor waived the prereq because I took trig in high school... over 10 years ago...)

I ended up getting an A, but it took quite a bit of work and catch-up on some trig concepts. It was always a little disconcerting when she pulled out a trig identity during a problem in class I had never seen before and was expected to know to do it to solve a problem, but it probably only showed up in maybe one test question. Trig definitely would have helped but it's far from absolutely necessary.