Taking physics without college algebra
- Thread starter tennisball80
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2007
- Messages
- 5,072
- Reaction score
- 55
- Points
- 4,691
- Location
- Behind You...
- Medical Student
As far as I know, unless your high school courses are APs or college credits and allow you to place out of the math prereq, you won't be able to take the class without fulfilling the prereq in college. You can check the requirements of the class or speak with the professor to find out more details.
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2007
- Messages
- 2,204
- Reaction score
- 15
- Points
- 4,661
- Medical Student
in my personal case, i took trig in high school and that proved sufficient enough to allow me to enroll into College Physics (trig based).
of course, i had to petition the requisite...and i did so by simply showing them my high school transcripts.
of course, i had to petition the requisite...and i did so by simply showing them my high school transcripts.
1
135892
Physics does involve quite a bit of math, but for Physics 1 and 2 at least, its not really too bad. So if you've felt comfortable with the math courses you've taken thus far, you should be fine. However, if you've never been too much of a math person, then maybe it would be a good idea to take some math classes and make sure you understand how to do everything. In physics, the professor will pretty much assume that you already know how to do the math, so if you're not to proficient in it, you may need to work a bit harder at it than others.
Best
Best
I would make sure to take college algebra first, but Physics absolutely killed me. I took 2 terms of Calculus before it, but of course since it was algebra-based that helped nothing. If you know you're a master at manipulating equations for different situations, you'd probably be fine, but if not, a term of college algebra would be a good background and practice for Physics.
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2007
- Messages
- 222
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
- Medical Student
I will simply make this perhaps petty comment. When I took undergrad physics, your ability to succeed in the class, in my perhaps inane opinion, was more based on your mathematical abilities than upon any other factor. Of course I went to what would be considered a tough University. Regardless, physics certainly is a class that could be, although maybe thoughtlessly, called an applied mathematics course.
What am I trying to obliquely say? The more math you have the better you'll probably experience the ignoble premedical physics.
What am I trying to obliquely say? The more math you have the better you'll probably experience the ignoble premedical physics.
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2005
- Messages
- 3,435
- Reaction score
- 11
- Points
- 4,571
- Resident [Any Field]
I don't get why anyone would take algebra in college if they already took it in high school (outside of perhaps math majors taking some funky experimental string-theory-meets-the-butterfly-effect algebra class). 🙄
Why don't you just take a regular physics course?
1
175961
The only college math class that I took was stats. I got credit through my local college while in high school and my math classes were among them. I took the algebra based physics and had no problems, sometimes my prof explained the derivations of the formulas and it was all calculus garbage and made no sense, but we werent required to know that and it was more FYI than anything else. I'm sure you'll be fine
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2008
- Messages
- 12,111
- Reaction score
- 250
- Points
- 4,916
- Location
- Kansas City, MO
- Website
- www.youtube.com
- Attending Physician
I think when most people refer to "regular physics," they mean physics without calculus. At the very most, you'll only need to know how to do a basic derivative for calc-less physics.
