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03-30-2008, 07:57 PM
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#1 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 42
| The Hardest Math Class
What do you think is the hardest math class youve taken in your x years of engineering school.
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04-01-2008, 01:14 AM
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#2 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 202
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I'm going to say Linear Algebra or Complex Analysis so far. Both are pretty abstract.
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04-01-2008, 02:09 AM
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#3 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: SoCal.
Posts: 3,018
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Advanced Engineering Math. The one where you "learn" about Bessel and Fourier.
That is not the class to slack off in.
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04-01-2008, 07:48 PM
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#4 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 122
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My math teachers have said that Abstract Algebra was very dificult.
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04-01-2008, 09:22 PM
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#5 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: AZ
Posts: 532
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I'll second Advanced Engineering Math. At my school, it's full of proofs and memorization of formulas. Us engineers didn't see the point in learning proofs. I was very surprised it was supposedly an engineering math class, but had less real problem solving than my other math courses.
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04-01-2008, 09:33 PM
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#6 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 100
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Linear Algebra
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04-01-2008, 11:56 PM
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#7 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: GATech, CompE
Posts: 112
| Quote:
Advanced Engineering Math. The one where you "learn" about Bessel and Fourier.
That is not the class to slack off in.
| lol
I'm taking that class (well, I'm learning that in Advanced Differential Equations) ... in HS.
I've been absent for the last two classes :S and we're supposed to have started learning about Bessel functions.
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04-02-2008, 04:58 AM
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#8 | | Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 553
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i guess it depends on the person, because most ppl at my school consider linear algebra to be the easiest compared to diff. equations and vector calculus. imo, it's vector calculus.
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04-02-2008, 05:39 PM
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#9 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 99
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Partial Differential Equations is pretty hard. It's a combination of differential equations, linear algebra and multivariable calculus. You spent most of the time learning various techniques to solve different kinds of problems, and sometimes it gets very complicated and difficult to follow.
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04-02-2008, 05:47 PM
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#10 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 3,021
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I think Diff Eq was the most abhorrently wretched and incredibly difficult course, let alone *math* course, that I've ever taken, but this is probably because the guy who wrote our book was also our (really awful) professor, we received a couple of looseleaf chapters of the textbook at a time because he was writing the second edition (now with more typos!), it was HORRIBLY written and had no example problems, the class was at 8 AM, and it was in the darkest windowless lecture hall on campus.
I still have horrible flashbacks of searching frantically for "CHAPTER FIVE" the night before the exam. Ugh.
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04-02-2008, 08:34 PM
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#11 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: GATech, CompE
Posts: 112
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No way, I'm in the same boat!
My professor writes his own notes, and no textbook is "required" in the class. We have to print out the notes he posts online, usually 15-20 pages.
You know what's funny? He's in front of me right now. I'm in the adv. diff eq lab class right now. Awful stuff. Not paying attention at all.
In my case, however, the class is at 6:25. I have high school from 8:40-4:00 ... then I got to take the bus to get to this class. Energy bars barely keep me alive.
I'm regretting taking this class as a dual enrollment class. Seems it won't even be transferred to GATech.
Last edited by fesago; 04-02-2008 at 08:41 PM.
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04-02-2008, 10:27 PM
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#12 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: California
Posts: 5,386
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You should look at buying a real textbook to go along with your class. There are plenty of decently rated Diff Eq books out there. I used this book: http://www.amazon.com/Elementary-Dif.../dp/0471319988 except an edition or two older when I took Diff Eq. for the first time. You ought to be able to find a version that's an edition or two old for less than $30 on abebooks.com or one of those sites if you try.
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04-02-2008, 10:43 PM
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#13 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 119
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I think that Gee i'm a tree is the hardest class there is...
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04-03-2008, 01:08 AM
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#14 | | Member
Join Date: May 2005 Location: Carnegie Mellon
Posts: 649
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Algorithms
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04-03-2008, 01:38 AM
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#15 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,755
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For me, Linear Algebra was hard to grasp the concepts. I found it difficult to visualize the transformations.
Other than that, I also think Advanced Differential Equations is difficult. It was very difficult to follow the proofs of the different Bessel equations. I don't think it comes up often unless in research.
The most tedious for me are series solutions. Not very useful but could be a very long process to solve.
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