What's so bad about calculus?

[Gibson486]

AP calc is a joke compared to college calc no matter where you go. Anyways, I thought calc was very easy until I got to stuff like the washer method or related rates. It got increasingly harder when you learn about legrange (sp?) multiplers and why you use it (no one ever told me that legrange was use to find the closest point to a point).

As for

" calculus is only hard because people have trouble grasping what infinity means "....

You only need that for intro to derivative and graphical analysis (just barely) in calculus.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: TheVrolok

Originally posted by: LS20

Originally posted by: elmro
Way to be passively condescending.

Biiingo. Heck, I'm a bio/biochem/microbio person and even I can say that Calc BC was a freakin joke. The real math starts quite a bit further down the road.

I remember taking differential equations....i felt violated everyday

 

[slsmnaz]

Use it to your advantage. I funded my whole freshman year by taking Calc tests for friends. $50 each and I guaranteed an A. (got a 4 on the BC test but it was a long time ago)

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Use it to your advantage. I funded my whole freshman year by taking Calc tests for friends. $50 each and I guaranteed an A. (got a 4 on the BC test but it was a long time ago)

How is that even possible? Did they have more than 10 calc courses in one semester (and some had to be at the same time)? Didn't everyone have the same deptartment final at the same time?

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Use it to your advantage. I funded my whole freshman year by taking Calc tests for friends. $50 each and I guaranteed an A. (got a 4 on the BC test but it was a long time ago)

How is that even possible? Did they have more than 10 calc courses in one semester (and some had to be at the same time)? Didn't everyone have the same deptartment final at the same time?

There were lots of calc classes each semester. Large school and all the freshman calc classes were in huge lecture halls (200+ students). I sat next to the guy and did the test while he messed around. When I was finished we switched papers. Everyone always gets up at the same time so he turned the test in and I walked out. Sometimes 3 or 4 would copy my work.

Looking back it was a very dumb thing to do but at 18yo I really didn't care since I was paying my own way for school. It's kinda funny when we get together and I hear what their jobs are now.

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: elmro
Way to be passively condescending.

And it wasn't even that passive.

 

[dullard]

What is bad about calculus? Algebra. I bet 99% of people getting stuck, making "stupid mistakes", and complaining about calculus can't do the algebra. The calculus part is usually extremely easy. But you might have to do algebra first to make the problem easier or you might have to do algebra later to clean up any mess. It is the algebra that people can't do and struggle with. Yet, the calculus teacher doesn't cover algebra in class.

I've been through dozens of classes that taught or used calculus. I could probably count on one hand the number of calculus related problems students had brought up in class in total over all of those classes. I couldn't count on two hands how many algebra problems students brought up in EACH and every lecture*.

* slight exaggeration.

 

[imported_Imp]

Ughh... I just finished my last calculus involving straigh-math course this past year in college. It was an ok course in highschool, but once they actually started doing the really specific topics, it was a nightmare. Thank god my entire career will depend on some form of calculus...effing engineering.

 

[sdifox]

For me, Calculus was a lot easier than Algebra. I guess it depends on how your brain is wired.

 

[markgm]

I miss Calculus and Algebra. I really think I'll teach it when I retire from IT.