<p>I’m referring to Principles of Physics 1 & 2 with labs. There are no prerequisites listed on the school site. What mathematical experience is assumed when you go into these classes; especially the first one? I won’t have calculus 1 until the second semester at the university because I’ve decided to take Precalculus with Science Applications my first semester after transferring. Thanks.</p>
<p>Above is my primary question, but if anyone is willing to help with the following, I would appreciate that as well. I’m supposed to select 2 (I believe) physics classes from this list if I want to do a minor. Any ideas about which would be most helpful for a ME major?</p>
<p>*For some reason, I remember there being more classes than that the last time I looked. For example, I remember there being 2 E&M classes. Not sure if every class is listed there or not.</p>
<p>I didn’t read the syllabus, but in general, when Universities offer three levels of introductory physics, the first one is a single class offering an overview of concepts, fake science if you will, for poets, etc. The next level requires problem solving, but is not calculus based. They are usually two semester classes. The third tier classes, which engineers usually take, are calculus based. They are also two semesters, but frequently have a lab too. Good luck.</p>
<p>At my school Calc 2 was a co-req for phys 1, but to be honest, we barely ever touched the stuff. Mainly you need to know it for derivatives, maybe an integral here and there, not much though.</p>
<p>For Physics I: Completion of Calculus I Why?..because you will use derivatives
For Physics II: Completion of Calculus I Why?..because you will use integrals</p>
<p>Note: I would personally take Calculus III concurrently or before Physics II because you will also use vectors for electromagnetic field problems. By taking Physics II before Calculus III, you will rely on the Physics prof to teach you about vectors whereas with Calculus III, you will get a more formal teaching with vectors.</p>
<p>Do just mean geometrical vectors? If so, there’s really no need to delay Physics II until after/during Calc III. I’m taking Calc III and Physics II now, and the first subject we covered in calc was vector geometry. It was a very easy section (mostly just dot products and cross products with a few variations), which you could probably pick up fairly quickly.</p>
<p>You definitely need Calc I, though, and depending upon how your university teaches calculus, maybe Calc II. For some weird reason, my university and quite a few others I’ve seen don’t cover integrals until Calc II. I might be wrong about this (I skipped Calc I&II), but that’s what the syllabuses said. Most of the integrals you do aren’t terribly difficult, however, so you could probably get by with just watching a couple Khan Academy videos or something.</p>
<p>Also helpful for understanding phasors because they’re a subset of vectors - you may see them depending on how in depth your physics II class goes or if you take a circuit theory class.</p>
<p>In general you will get a lot more out of your physics I class if you aren’t hung up on the derivatives or anti-derivatives. It isn’t hard stuff, but I feel like the only way things are going to “click” is if you can justify behavior mathematically (rather than trying to justify the math with empirical evidence).</p>
<p>Usually, completion of first semester freshman calculus (or AP calculus AB) is a prerequisite for beginning the physics sequence for physics and engineering majors, which starts with mechanics. Second semester freshman calculus is typically a corequisite at the minimum.</p>
<p>Multivariable calculus is often a prerequisite or corequisite for the physics course that includes electricity and magnetism.</p>
<p>Check with your school’s physics department for recommended math prerequisites and corequisites for physics courses.</p>
<p>Trapper, I know this is going to sound snarky, but do one and one make three? Nope. Each typically count as one year, but some schools still make you take Calc BC over.</p>
<p>AP calculus BC is generally equivalent to college freshman calculus, but it is a good idea to review the college’s freshman calculus final exams to make sure you know the material well. If you are well prepared enough to skip freshman calculus, you will then take multivariable calculus (calculus 3), linear algebra, and differential equations to major in engineering.</p>
<p>AP statistics is usually not accepted for engineering majors, since any required statistics course is likely to be a calculus-based course.</p>
<p>Re: one and one making three</p>
<p>Some high schools have an odd system where they force advanced math students to take AP calculus over two years (AB one year and the rest of BC the next year), allowing the school to double-dip AP calculus tests taken (it is not generally in the best interests of the top math students to be forced to slow down this way). Adding AP statistics makes three years of high school math from that.</p>
<p>My school covered AP calculus in this way, and I think most of us found it beneficial to our learning. That being said, we covered AB in 1.5 credits (meet every day for 90 minutes in the fall, every other day for 90 minutes in the spring), and BC in 1 credit (every other day for 90 minutes both semesters). I felt like the extra year really helped us fully understand some of the more difficult BC concepts like infinite series and Taylor polynomials, ensuring our 5’s on the AP exam yielded actual understanding.</p>
<p>I don’t really understand the need to take 3 AP math courses, unless you attend an intensely competitive high school. If you do want to, I don’t see why you couldn’t take AP Stats at the same time as calculus.</p>
<p>When I was in high school, any student who was ready to take calculus as a high school junior* was one of the top students in math, and would find a one year BC course to be appropriate (actually, an easy A in the course and an easy 5 on the AP test). The good-but-not-great-in-math students who may find an AB course more suitable would only reach calculus as high school seniors (though some who reached calculus as high school seniors were fine taking BC).</p>
<p>The students who were spoon-fed calculus over two years in high school may find that actual college math is a bigger adjustment, due to going through the material at a faster pace than they saw in high school.</p>
<p>*Which one would have to be in order to take calculus over two years in high school.</p>
<p>I’m not absolutely certain, but I believe most high schools have made the adjustment to AB/BC. I’m not sure why. My son is in AB as a junior and will likely take BC and AP statistics as a senior. None of the schools in the region even offer BC on a regular basis. There’s enough kids in his class in AB that they’ll likely do BC for them as seniors. Even Exeter does AB/BC. They have a higher level, but AB and BC are required to get in.</p>
<p>Looking at the curriculum guide at my old (public, not a magnet or charter) high school, they still offer a one year BC course, listing the prerequisite as a B- or higher in honors precalculus or an A in regular precalculus. They also offer an AB course with the same prerequisites, and a non-AP calculus course whose prerequisite is a C- or higher in precalculus.</p>
<p>If by “Exeter” you mean the Philips Exeter Academy, note that its calendar has three terms per academic year. So its four term calculus sequence is 1+1/3 years, not two years (the first two terms include AB, while the other two cover the rest of BC).</p>
<p>Browsing the web pages of some high schools in the area, it appears that the public and private high schools with reasonably good (not necessarily elite) academic reputations around here offer one-year BC courses for students who have just complete precalculus (they also offer one-year AB courses).</p>
<p>However, the public and private high schools that do not have as high academic reputations have BC as a second-year add-on course to be taken after a one-year AB course.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s a regional thing. I looked at several schools in the Northwest and Midwest who are the best in their area, all of which did the AB/BC route. Some offered multivariable calc, but only with a 4 or a 5 on the AP exam.</p>
<p>With that said, it seems like most who get through C or BC by the time they graduate HS will be in a pretty solid position for college. Agree?</p>
<p>It depends. Those who scored a 5 on the AP test are probably ready to move on to the next more advanced course (though reviewing the college’s freshman calculus final exams before deciding whether to skip the beginning course(s) is a good idea). Those who struggled for a 3, or did not even score a 3, on the AP test may be less ready; in some cases, their high school math courses were of poor quality so that their colleges placed them into precalculus after having them take math placement tests.</p>
<p>However, those who had the slow-paced calculus (AB, or AB one year and the rest of BC the next) may find actual college math courses to be a shock due to moving at a much faster pace than in high school.</p>