<p>I am a high school senior considering majoring in Physics in order to become a science teacher, preferably on the middle school level. My Math has been okay until this year, I am struggling through my Calculus I class this year, mainly due to trig errors and some missing algebra skills. I am wondering, will this drastically affect my ability to study physics related courses? I did not take Honors/AP Physics in high school, only regular level and found it fairly easy.</p>
<p>Physics in college is calculus based for majors. If you get down basic things like derivatives and integrals they can help you greatly by cutting out long series of algebra(think of the curve in a X-T graph where acceleration is present). That being said, you should probably just retake calculus in college and see where it goes from their. I’ve been very strong in Math all through high school and calculus is busting my balls some, so I understand.</p>
<p>Since I am in high school you may doubt my reply, but my mother has her doctorate in Chemistry from Harvard and teaches Quantum mechanics(she studied chemistry because she hates large particles and Newtonian mechanics) on the graduate level so she knows how a physics department runs. Also my father was a math major in college despite that he failed Algebra I and struggled in math all through high school. If your passion is physics, you can overcome calculus for it.</p>
<p>Very essential. Also, college level physics is nothing like high school level physics.</p>
<p>Calculus is just the beginning for physics. But don’t give up because of a bad experience. That being said, if teaching is really your passion, you might look into some sort of general science degree, giving you a solid understanding of the ‘holy trinity’ (bio/chem/physics).</p>
<p>A good number of physics majors take so much math that they could basically have a second degree in mathematics. University level physics relies heavily on calculus, but for upper level courses you will need much more than just calc.</p>
<p>But don’t judge your ability on one class with one teacher. Oh the people I could tell you about who majored in math or extremely quantitative subjects but struggled with early math or a particular course (I’m a professor in a quant area so I know a lot such people who do very advanced stuff, mathematically speaking). Your experience is not necessarily predictive at all. Keep working at it, but take more and see.</p>
<p>If you really want to major in Physics, you should find a summer course that can clean up your math skills before college. Small errors add up to big problems. Yeah, it’s more work for you. But you will feel better at college and feel more confident in your ability. It’s hard to put a price on that.</p>
<p>calculus was invented for physics. that’s how important calculus is for physics.</p>
<p>i agree with everyone else though. you need to hone your fundamentals and basics, it sounds like. take a supplementary class in algebra and trig, then be sure to retake the first year of calculus in college before continuing to later topics like multivariable, linear alg, and diff-eqs.</p>
<p>I had a bad experience with physics during my junior year. My teacher was overqualified (phd) and too smart for his own good, therefore his teaching was at a level most high school students cannot understand. Even further, the class was taught algebra based. I would consider myself a very strong math student and areas of calculus such as integration and differentiation have come fairly easy. Should I be worried about entry level college physics?</p>
<p>@ aGGieENGiNeeR</p>
<p>Yes.</p>
<p>hmm maybe that was a stupid question because I know my own abilities and should be fine.</p>