Calculus(my update)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1013813/posts ^

[IYAAYAS]

I made the above linked post more than a year ago which generated more than 100 replies. Which means I've been waiting (hoping) for more than a year to make this one. Well I finished! Calculus 1,2,3 and differential equations, including a discreet mathematics class over the summer for good measure. I just got my final grades for calc 3 and DEQ this morning, B and B. DEQ was by far the most difficult class I've ever taken, VERY interesting to me though, I wish I had the time to take DEQ2. This morning I feel like I've finaly won an epic struggle between me and math. I know I still have a lot of math in my future as an engineering major, but now I have the confidence and the ability. WOOHOO I'm so happy! To all who posted advice: Thank You! To any misguided student who comes to FR for math advice read the above linked post and follow the advice!

[ProudVet77]

you took calc 3 and DEQ in the same semester? You're a glutton for punishment. I found calc 3 the worse, since you wound up having to learn all those different integrals. Didn't take DEQ but did take ODE. It was very problem solving oriented which was a plus, but was still bizzaroland. The prof wasn't much help, only grade was for a 10 problem take home final. We ganged up on it, but it still took a whole weekend just to solve some of those problems.

[delacoert]

This morning I feel like I've finaly won an epic struggle between me and math.

Enjoy the feeling while it lasts...

At the risk of being a wet blanket... soon the sinking feeling that you'll never know enough mathematics will begin to increase... and never go away. :)

[FourtySeven]

I changed majors just to avoid more Calculus.

I did the exact same thing! I don't know if you were joking, but I'm not. hehe I was a physics major, but changed to biology when I hit the DEQ wall! I could never do those things.

[Shryke]

And a "mouse". Pretty hard-core gamer.

[luckystarmom]

Congrats! What would be your advice to someone that is about to embark on the calculus and Diff E journey?

[dangus]

HEEEYYY!!!

We had mice.

That was how newbies got their first pelt.
(No kidding.)

[FairWitness]

Congratulations. I took DEQ, and passed, but it was the course that convinced me that I never wanted to take another math course (statistics excepted) ever again! What made me feel better about it was reading later that Isaac Asimov had essentially the same reaction!

[Publius6961]

BUMP!

[B-bone]

I changed majors just to avoid more Calculus.

You and me both. Lasted 1 week in Calc 3 at 7:30 AM and changed majors.

My rule of thumb in college (obviously back when I was a liberal without a job):

No classes before 9:30 unless required for my major.

Class before 8:30 AM = change major!

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Cool! Now could you offer me some advice> What is the most important bit of knowledge for laying the foundation for Calculus. I have a 6 year old Math wizard and I am not certain what direction to take so math continues to be so much fun for him. He told me yesterday that if he could Marry Math- he would!

[Joe Bonforte]

cool. can you explain calculus?

Well, the main theorem is that the integral of e to the x is equal to a function of u to the n power.

You can see more details here. Make sure you take a good look at the last equation presented, which sums up the concept.

[jpsb]

Congrads, I know how you feel. A, A, B, B.

[onedoug]

dy/dx=congrats.

[EEDUDE]

" Learn how to program and solve these things numerically. My $0.02."


Amen! Excellent advice.

Nobody I know solves differential equations by hand anymore.

MatLab and other such packages do it very nicely.

[Lexington Green]

Great... now you can help me with this question posed by novelist Tom Robbins...

''If a hen and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half, how long will it take a monkey with a wooden leg to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle?''

[whd23]

e to the u, du/dx
e to the x, dx
cosine, secant, tangent, sine,
3.14159
integral, radical, u dv,
slipstick, slide rule, MIT!

Math Cheers

[laker_dad]

I have a 6 year old Math wizard and I am not certain what direction to take so math continues to be so much fun for him.

Teach him to play chess and a musical instrument.

[Professional Engineer]

I know I still have a lot of math in my future as an engineering major,

You've gotten past the hard part. Now it gets fun as you get to apply the stuff.

What flavor of Engineering?

[beethovenfan]

I think you took a course in DISCRETE math.
Unless, of course, it was dealing with how to not
offend anybody, therefore DISCREET math.

[DoWhatsRight]

Also been there done that. When I was 18, I took Calculus for the first time-had a teacher from lower Slobovia or some such place who couldn't hardly speak English. For me this was my downfall...flunked this course miserably, gave up trying. Went back to college at age 25 determined to kill the Calculus Dragon. Had 99 avg in calc 1, 98 avg in calc 2, 96 avg in calc 3 and a 92 avg in diffy q's. Worked on one diffy q for physics for 8 hours before getting the solution-found out I was the only one in class to get it right. I became obsessed with perfection on my tests and would study for 20-30 hours straight before the more difficult sections. These exercises in my mid-twenties(while working 50 hrs a week at night) have made me an accomplished researcher and driven individual once I have a project to do. It's funny how I still look back on that time as such a triumph in my life. My brother the genius just seemed to cruise along without much work to get to the same result, but it has certainly made me a much harder worker! (Off soapbox :D)
DWR