Isn't Calculus just about the greatest thing ever?

**GlassDragon** · Joined: 24 May 2008 Posts: 1122

I'm a High School junior in BC Calculus, and i've only merely scratched the surface of the large beast that is Calculus. I just took a test on integrals today, so I know some of the basics - derivatives, certain derivative applications, basic anti-differentiation, and integrals.

But even with just that I still realize just how important Calculus is to our fundamental understanding of nature! Every single principle in physics is backed by a calculus idea, and calculus functions are constantly being invented to define newer discoveries in physics. The applications for even just what I know now are astounding, and I very much feel that YES calculus is useful and has many, many real world applications.

I was never one for liberal arts... I get by in AP English and History classes with A's, but I don't necessarily like those classes and could never really pinpoint their applications. Chemistry is another math-heavy subject that I love, but calculus is just amazing. I love it! Calculus is actually my hardest class right now, but I enjoy it quite a bit. Calculus is potentially in my opinion the MOST adaptable and useful area of knowledge that was ever created.
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**kaflagemeir** · Joined: 31 Mar 2007 Posts: 1295 Location: Kentucky.

Is this sarcasm?

I used to like my math class (Accelerated Geometry in 9th grade), but then we got into triangles and I hate them.
A lot.

Hopefully when I push triangles off of a cliff (lesson over) I'll like my class again, but now I hate it.
I think next year or the year after I take Calculus, and I'll make sure to come to you for help. >.>

**GlassDragon** · Joined: 24 May 2008 Posts: 1122

No, this isn't sarcasm. I don't know why everyone finds it so hard to believe that someone can enjoy math

.

I mean, it's probably one of the most if not the most important subjects that we study in school. The basis of all developments in science and technology, as well as physics itself, take root in mathematical developments.

Calculus is just perfect because it's so analytical. You can look at things you are familiar with and analyze them to death, you can check rate of change at any point (derivative), the rate of change OF the rate of change, etc. Calculus is the method through which we can analyze any model that can be represented in algebraic terms.

And that's just with a basic understanding of it! There is so much more I haven't learned. There are applications for nth-dimensional calculus, for example; that basically means calculus that applies to situations with, say, 19 dimensions! While we can only physically represent 3 dimensions, we can mathematically represent an infinite number of dimensions, and there are applications for it, but I don't know about them yet because i've only covered reeeaaaally basic calculus so far and don't know much.

Edit: for those of you that don't know, BC Calculus is an AP class.
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**0wnd1zzl3d** · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 12:24 am Post subject:

**freakshowexcess** · Joined: 12 May 2007 Posts: 724 Location: Bushkill, PA

Yea, I am a big math guy also. I plan on majoring in math when I go to college. I am also a high school junior taking BC Calculus. We had a test on integrals this past friday, and we have started slope fields, Euler's Method, and covered integration by parts today. I love how you can really see how Calculus gets applied in the real world. It's also sweet having your views on previous math topics get totally transformed after taking Calculus.
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**geome** · Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 478

I also enjoy calc. Working on improper integrals, integration by parts, and Disk Method all combined.

Loads of fun, especially, since I understand it.

**mac081793** · Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 2643 Location: Pomona, CA

**krisdaschwab912** · Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 6567 Location: UW-Eau Claire

...Fuck Calculus. A, B, C, Z, 534, Fish, Candy, Porn...whatever variation of calculus it is, it sucks.

That shit roundhouse kicked me in the face.
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**xslaya22x** · Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 540 Location: Detroit

lol... calculus... its great stuff until you get mindfucked by crazy, unnecessarily difficult notation on a test (study notation heavily, trust me). In all seriousness though, I really like how physics, chemistry, etc. can be modeled by math... it's nice, elegant, and lets us think that we understand nature

Basically, the only reason I like learning it at all is because it's the language of physics. You have to learn how to 'read' it in order to learn physics, and as a consequence, chemistry. I believe physics is much more important than math in the big picture, after all... that's why Newton and Leibniz developed it. (not so sure about Leibniz' motivation). Once you get past physical applications I'd rather fall asleep... just my opinion

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**GlassDragon** · Joined: 24 May 2008 Posts: 1122

Well, slaya, you need to remember that original calculus ideas (derivatives, integrals, and several others) were discovered several hundred years ago or so, and people didn't really have applications for much of them then. The greeks also used several aspects of calculus to approximate things, and even the calculation of the pi constant I believe was the result of calculus figuring. Calculus as it exists today has MANY branches, some of which is mainly theoretical, but who knows? If it took us 600 years to find applications for some of it, who knows what another few years might bring us?

What i'm saying is, although some of calculus involves the study of mathematical rules that work although they have no physical application right now... some more time might reveal an application for them.
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**xslaya22x** · Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 540 Location: Detroit

**reikonkeiri** · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 1:16 am Post subject:

Yes. Seriously calculus is fantastic I can't wait to take Calc 2 in college o_o.

For now I'm stuck in AP statistics the WORST math class ever invented. I'm dying of boredom in there =[
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**tornintwo** · Joined: 08 Aug 2007 Posts: 1524 Location: Vancouver, B.C.

I love my calculus class. We only have it offered in grade 12 (senior year) and no AP courses, although I suppose another school would offer AP programs but ours doesn't. We aren't very far, only at the beginnings of derivatives because we did about 3 weeks of review of polynomial functions that we learned last year

. But I bought a book at a used book store called A Tour Of The Calculus and I read it during summer vacation and I learned a lot. The book (its really a novel, not a study aid) explained the different theories very well and the applications and necessity for finding rules to explain various things in science.
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**GlassDragon** · Joined: 24 May 2008 Posts: 1122

**0wnd1zzl3d** · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 1:37 am Post subject: