Why bother taking Calc 2??

[novawildcat]

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Yes I am a math major too and my opinion is unbiased, but if you are going to graduate in the sciences, whether life or physical, you should take a year of calc. Math can be applied to virtually anything, just knowing a year of calc would be useful since it is a prereq. for so many other classes. Even if you are forced to take calc "and won't ever use it again" you should still try gain some respect for what is going on. Calculus is probably one of the top 3 inventions (or discoveries, which ever philosophical school you belong to) mankind has ever made, just try to get something out of it.

 

[Law2Doc]

Let me put that in a medical situation: If by being a poor doctor I don't save X patient and they die, how long will it take for their body's temperature to equilibrate with the surrounding atmosphere?

See doctors can use it too...

OK, so if you plan to do "CSI" type M.E./path stuff I suppose I can see how it can come in handy. I still don't see using it myself, ever.

 

[chinny5187]

What does calc 4 generally cover? Is it just multivariable calc?

It was at my school. Been about 9 years but I think we did surface line integration, something about a green theorem, etc...as you can see, it really changed my life and I use it a lot. 🙄

This was covered in my calc 3 class. Calc 4 is diff eq at my school.

I'm guessing its differs by school according to this discussion.

 

[soonereng]

This was covered in my calc 3 class. Calc 4 is diff eq at my school.

I'm guessing its differs by school according to this discussion.

At my school it was 4 classes at 3 credit hrs each (called Calculus/Analytic Geometry I-IV). Probably at others it is 3 classes at 4 credit hours, or some other permutation giving @ 12-14 hrs total.

I always saw diff eq as something quite different than "calculus" even though it used calculus principles to solve the equations. I definitely wouldn't consider it just an extension of multivariable calculus (e.g. Calc 4 for you). In fact at my school, I took my Calc 4 (your Calc 3) the same semester as I took diff eq (which was called engineering math but it was just diff eq).

Then because I'm a glutton for punishment, I took a course in partial differential equations which was probably the hardest class I have ever taken. Seriously, deriving and solving the freaking Schrodinger wave equation for quantum physics!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrödinger_equation

 

[foreverLaur]

At my school it was 4 classes at 3 credit hrs each (called Calculus/Analytic Geometry I-IV). Probably at others it is 3 classes at 4 credit hours, or some other permutation giving @ 12-14 hrs total.

I always saw diff eq as something quite different than "calculus" even though it used calculus principles to solve the equations. I definitely wouldn't consider it just an extension of multivariable calculus (e.g. Calc 4 for you). In fact at my school, I took my Calc 4 (your Calc 3) the same semester as I took diff eq (which was called engineering math but it was just diff eq).

Then because I'm a glutton for punishment, I took a course in partial differential equations which was probably the hardest class I have ever taken. Seriously, deriving and solving the freaking Schrodinger wave equation for quantum physics!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger_equation

we have Calculus & Analytic Geometry I-IV... 5 credit hours each (quarter school). DiffyQ is a separate 5 hour course.


calc I - Limits, continuity, derivatives, Mean Value Theorem, extrema, curve sketching, related rates, differentiation of the trig, log, and exp functions.

calc II - Integrals, area, fundamental theorems of calculus, logarithmic and exponential functions, trigonometric and inverse trigonometric functions, methods of integration, applications of integration, polar coordinates.

calc III - Indeterminate forms, Taylor's formula, improper integrals, infinite series, parametric curves, and vectors in the plane; vectors, curves, and surfaces in space.

calc IV - Partial differentiation, Lagrange multipliers, multiple integrals, line integrals, and Green's theorem.

DiffyQ - Basic concepts and methods in solving ordinary differential equations, first and second order, linear differential equations, series solutions, numerical methods, Laplace transforms, physical applications.

 

[chinny5187]

At my school it was 4 classes at 3 credit hrs each (called Calculus/Analytic Geometry I-IV). Probably at others it is 3 classes at 4 credit hours, or some other permutation giving @ 12-14 hrs total.

I always saw diff eq as something quite different than "calculus" even though it used calculus principles to solve the equations. I definitely wouldn't consider it just an extension of multivariable calculus (e.g. Calc 4 for you). In fact at my school, I took my Calc 4 (your Calc 3) the same semester as I took diff eq (which was called engineering math but it was just diff eq).

Then because I'm a glutton for punishment, I took a course in partial differential equations which was probably the hardest class I have ever taken. Seriously, deriving and solving the freaking Schrodinger wave equation for quantum physics!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrödinger_equation

I think calc I-III at my school were 4 hours each, like you say, and diff eq was 3 hours.

I'm definitely jealous of your PDE class, would've loved to see some of that stuff. But thats the nerd in me coming out.

did you use any of it in your mechE classes?

 

[soonereng]

I'm definitely jealous of your PDE class, would've loved to see some of that stuff. But thats the nerd in me coming out.

I wouldn't be jealous...

did you use any of it in your mechE classes?

Not much really. Most of the things in undergrad engineering training are simplified to the ODE realm. The PDE class was an elective that I chose to take; however, it did help me to understand multidimensional and transient heat transfer problems, which are all PDE formulations, better. Also for fluid mechanics the Navier-Stokes equations are PDE formulations. My major required taking a modern physics (as opposed to classical Newtonian physics) class where we learned the theory of relativity and basic quantum mechanics and used the Schrodinger equation for some really simple situations, so I think the PDE class helped there as well.

Pretty much every real life physical event can be modelled as PDEs, but part of engineering is making simplifying assumptions where justified so a lot of things can be modelled in one dimension as an ODE with acceptable accuracy.

 

[PreMedHead84]

I took one semester of Calculus, entitled "Differential and Integral Calculus" which is a sort of engineering/science based higher level course series (2 courses cover the full amount of material instead of taking it 3 separate semesters)...i.e. M408C & D (I only took C) versus K, L, and M. Johns Hopkins requires 6-8 semester hours/1 year of math (calculus or statistics)...

Now here's my question. I called Johns Hopkins admissions office, and described the course, and they said it would be perfectly adequate to meet the minimum requirement. I'm thinkin--really?? She assured me, yes, it would be verified by AMCAS and would be fine. Because the basic premise is that it covers a year's worth (Differential...Integral) of calculus material in one semester. Thoughts???

Also, just in case, I have taken a statistics course, but it was Statistics and Research Design, under Psychology (my major) so I'm not sure if that would count...

Thanks!

 

[egysardoc]

take calc 2, it's easier than calc 1. In fact, take Diff Eq too cuz that's fun. The only one that sux is calc 3. Oh ya and I hate stat.. too boring and too memorize this and you'll be cool sorta thing.

 

[BlackSails]

What does calc 4 generally cover? Is it just multivariable calc?

Calc 4? NYU only has up to calc 3, which is multivariable and vector calculus.

 

[BlackSails]

Then because I'm a glutton for punishment, I took a course in partial differential equations which was probably the hardest class I have ever taken. Seriously, deriving and solving the freaking Schrodinger wave equation for quantum physics!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrödinger_equation

Isnt the schrodinger equation is not derivable?

 

[medguy83]

I have seen many people talking Calc 2 just so it looks good in transcript. Do we really have to bother taking Calc 2 if you're shooting for some kind of Bio major? I seriously dont get why people are killing themselves over on stupid calc 2. I only took Calc one and got an A...DONE

For many schools you need calc 1 and 2 for a BS. Personally, I loved it. Don't get me wrong, it was pretty tough, but I'd do it again just for the Taylor series derivations.