Calculus

[IYAAYAS]

This is my first vanity post, I wasn't going to post this until I realized there is a "vanity" option under topics. Anyone care to help out a freeper?

I'm about to begin the three part calculus sequence followed by differential equqations and I'm starting to get nervous. I would like advice from those who are there or have been there.

I am an adult student who has decided to return to school, I have re-taken trig and precalculus (both A's)as a refresher.

I'm looking for any kind of advice, general or specific. What things are inportant for the study of caculus? Should I start to memorize certain formulas now? If so, what? Is threre a certain method you used to visualize concepts? anything really...

[P.O.E.]

I remember dozing in the back of the room at night school once during Calc II.

As the prof was solving "three-fifths x" and "one-fourths x", in my half-state all I could hear was "three fifth SEX" and "one fourth SEX".

That woke me up.

My advice - keep doing the practice problems. Eventually, the "aha" light bulb will go on, and it will be a breeze.

[IYAS9YAS]

Not that I know of. ;^)

[Treebeard]

I discovered in Calc I why I should have studied algebra instead of playing in bar bands. I discovered in Calc II why I should have done the same for trig.

I learned more diff e in physical chemistry than in mathematics.

I can still almost get in a fetal position over something called "partial fractions."

[richtig_faust]

I have a master's in electrical engineering, one of my undergrad degrees was mathematics. The BEST way to make sure you understand and can breeze through tests is to DO THE PROBLEMS at the end of the chapter.

Just because you "understand" the concepts does not mean you can effectively apply them. Trust me, you'll be amazed at the huge difference in understanding and retention by doing extra problems.

[Treebeard]

My calculus professor was a BABE. I was so smitten with her that I even read her dissertation. She was a competition swimmer and had a six pack of abs...

Talk about wanting to determine the area under the curve...

[IYAAYAS]

WOW!
You guys are great! There are 50+ posts in less than an hour! I expected 1 or 2 flames for the vanity post. Perfect vanity for a Monday afternoon perhaps?

There is some very good advice here that I will follow.

I think I was born very mathematically minded, I remember in grade school being taught the X-Y coordinate system and trying to find out how to write my name "in math", little did I know.

Some background: I left the military (USAF+USCG) and joined the civilian world as an electronics tech with some experience. I worked at a few different companies as an engineering tech after I had some more experience under my belt. After working with some brilliant engineers and some really bad engineers I decided that I too would become an engineer (if they can do it, I can do it).

I have more than 100 college credits, so I can easily start as a junior in an engineering program, unfortunately I lack the calculus series, so here I am.

There is an upside for me that I'm behind on the math, by the time I catch up I'll Have taken all the electives I'll ever need and the programming classes that I need. It just happens to work out that I'll be able to get my BSEE and MSCE at the same time. My wife's an accountant, after studying the college catalog she insists that if I do everything in a certain order I can get both degrees together. I have no desire to do anything concerning computer software, hardware design is what interests me, the medical field specifically.

[Old Professer]

solve very complex three dimensional volume problems:

Okay, what is the volume of a standard golf ball (don't forget the dimples)?

[Indy Pendance]

FR is filled with lots of people from the sciences. The libs haven't found a way to PC calculus.

[in the Arena]

You guys ever heard of the "cherro errament" is ? According to my South Korean data structures professor it was the first element of an array. :O)

[wideminded]

Besides the other excellent advice offered here, I would add that your attitude towards the work will determine your success. Part of this is humility. Often you will need to work problems without knowing their purpose for some time afterwards. A person who thinks that they are too smart to need to do all the problems or who says: "This epsilon and delta stuff is so stupid, I'll just skip it", is someone who has the wrong attitude for successful learning.

[RedWhiteBlue]

Here is a cool sight that explains alot of mathematical concepts.

[BMiles2112]

Isn't that just basic geometry? (Volume - (dimple volume * # dimples))

(Not that I'm going to figure it out!)

[Natural Law]

The important thing is to not try to learn calculus by memorizing a sequence of steps to solve a problem like can be done in the lower math classes. It is important to understand the concepts. I always found it helpful to visualize some real world phenomenon like the dampening of a shock absorber to make the concepts tangible instead of purely abstract.

[lilylangtree]

When I first started my MBA program as an adult, the requirement was to take Business Calculus or standard Calculus. I needed one or the other since my mathematics background was sparse, almost nonexistent, and the program required it. I chose the latter at the local community college, and explained to the teacher my situation and that I just wanted the information. I didn't want to fail but I wasn't out to make an A either. The teacher was understanding and assisted me whenever I felt I needed help (which was most of the time really). I attended classes 5 afternoons a week (I worked in the mornings and was raising a son too), and there were times I was so frustrated in doing homework because geometry/trig was pretty heavy as well as Algebra. I had very little geometry and the equivalent of long ago high school Algebra I and II. I worked my butt off and stayed after classes talking with the teacher, even called him at home many times refreshing my memory. I did the homework only when I could apply Algebra. It was a VERY LONG quarter but I made it, and the teacher knew I tried. In the fact the final exam consisted of one question that could be answered only by writing a whole page. The teacher asked for the answer in geometry/trig terms. However, I explained that I could only give it to him in algebraic terms (the class had gone over many test questions prior to the exam). I passed with a B+. Hope this helps. I must say though that I couldn't have done it if the community college teacher hadn't been as help as he was. I give all credit to him. However, once I started taking the classes needed for the MBA program, I found that I only needed the subject on differentials taught in Calculus, and the subject was touched on very little. But I'm glad I took Calculus.

[Treebeard]

I've seen several good bits of advice, including the one that helped me the most, which was:

Algebraic and trigonometric operations should be as automatic to you as English. You should be able to pull them out, use them, and put them away like a craftsman pulls a tool from his belt.

Nothing can teach you that like getting all the calc theory stuff right on an exam and losing 20 points for not recognizing a basic trig identity or that you could have factored out an x-squared and had the whole equation collapse to something trivial.

[Teacher317]

Lots of good advice here. My contribution is just something I noticed from my calculus and higher math classes: the most common mistakes are NOT from attempting to use the newly-learned material, but from the basics... missing those dang negative signs, common addition and multiplication goofs, and copying errors.

Note, that is good news. The new material IS NOT insurmountable!

[Teacher317]

Ditto that!

[eniapmot]

Sure fire way to become a calculus STUD:

Get a copy of Calculus, by M. Spivak. Do ALL of the problems. Stand a little taller.

[xm177e2]

Also get a TI-8X or 9X calculator (my personal fave is the 85, and some classes may not allow the 9X on exams).

The TI-89 can solve difficult calculus problems for you. It would not be a bad investment. But learn how do to the math on paper before you start relying on the calculator! It should only be used to check your work or do problems meant for calculators.

[eniapmot]

Even something simple as the Fundamental Theorem of Integral Calculus will have a different expression in each text

So? You are confusing math with the human symbols used to represent math. Gotta go deeper.