<p>I see on these forums that some people take "differential" calculus and others take "multivariable" calc. What's the difference between the two?</p>
<p>differential calculus works with differential equations and multi works with multivariable calculus where you do stuff like double integrals and stuff. in my school multi is taken fall term and differential is taken spring term of the year after ap calc is completed.</p>
<p>Calculus is built on two major complementary ideas. The first is differential calculus, which studies the rate of change in one quantity relative to the rate of change in another quantity. This can be illustrated by the slope of a line. The second is integral calculus, which studies the accumulation of quantities, such as areas under a curve, linear distance traveled, or volume displaced. These two processes act inversely to each other, in a sense made specific by the fundamental theorem of calculus.</p>
<p>Examples of typical differential calculus problems include:</p>
<p>finding the acceleration and speed of a free-falling body at a particular moment
finding the optimal number of units a company should produce to maximize their profit.
Examples of integral calculus problems include:</p>
<p>finding the amount of water pumped by a pump with a set power input but varying conditions of pumping losses and pressure
finding the amount of parking lot plowed by a snowplow of given power with varying rates of snowfall.
Today, calculus is used in every branch of the physical sciences, in computer science, in statistics, and in engineering; in economics, business, and medicine; and as a general method whenever the goal is an optimum solution to a problem that can be given in mathematical form. From a mathematical standpoint, it is used in conjunction with limits which, roughly speaking, allow the control or accurate description of an otherwise uncontrollable output.</p>
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<li>wikipedia</li>
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<p>The sequence usually goes like this:</p>
<p>Single Variable Calculus (Calc I);
More Single Variable Calculus but going more deeply into it such as studying L'Hopital (Calc II);
Multivariable Calculus (Calc III), just as the name suggests, more variables kick in;
Differetial Equations (Calc IV);</p>
<p>Some schools do not require you to take Calc III before Calc IV as they are not as closely related but other schools still follow this sequence of prerequistes.</p>
<p>we can take a different math class to fill a math requirement besides calculus right. I'm praying I won't have to take calculus at Cornell. I'd die.</p>
<p>It depends on your major...</p>
<p>We have a class in school that covers Multivariable Calc (Double/ Triple Integrals, Vector Calculus, Partial Derivatives); Original Differential Equations; and finally, Linear Algebra in 1 year.</p>
<p>dude... what school do you go to newyorker? my school cut back the AP Calculus BC class this year due to a lack of interested students. i can't imagine multivariable calc and beyond being available at a public high school....</p>
<p>we had multivariable and stat, beyond BC, and if you completed both of those by senior year you could take math at princeton university for free. It used to be that you only had to complete calc BC and stat, but they added a Multivariable class because too many kids were having to go to princeton U, haha</p>
<p>you guys are so lucky. my school has calc ab...for seniors only. i had to resort to dual-enrollment at fsu to learn anything.</p>
<p>have anyone seen 20/20? it was about how bad public schools are in the united states. It was called "Stupid in America".</p>
<p>we'll ignore the fact that i went to a US public school for the sake of your argument haha</p>
<p>wow.. arent you all just perfect lil math geniuses</p>
<p>sparticus do you go to somekind of private school? what's the name of your school....</p>
<p>I believe he goes to Cornell . . . and went to Princeton High School</p>
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wow.. arent you all just perfect lil math geniuses
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<p>um litagee, a little bitter there? No one's even bragging.</p>
<p>So, what's your major? You might not even have to take calc.</p>
<p>hah I dont know my major yet.. and I was joking.</p>
<p>True, well, calc isn't that bad at Cornell if you don't fall behind. The average grade on the tests was consistently an 80 in my class, which is pretty good for Cornell. If you're having trouble, there are usually people more than willing to help you understand things.</p>
<p>well if I think Calc AB is hard in high school... I really dont even want to think about what I'd be in for at Cornell</p>
<p>My school offers math classes through multivariable calculus. The 1 or 2 students who took that junior year either take AP stat senior year or take math classes at Johns Hopkins, Gtown, GW or Maryland. Also, I think a lot of differential equations stuff is at least touched upon in AP Physics, but I don't speak from experience.</p>