<p>Can you mix tracts? In other words, can you mix a practical tract math with theoretical tract physics? Does it make either one harder or does it matter?</p>
<p>Or the other way around - mixing analytical math with theoretical physics? How about practical differential equations and theoretical linear algebra?</p>
<p>You can mix and match tracks any way you like, and you're not bound within that track for the rest of core. So yes, you can take anal Math 1B (linear algebra), prac Ma1c (multivar), prac Ma2a (diffEQ) if you like - just an example.</p>
<p>zoogies - thanks, that helps</p>
<p>My memory on this is a bit vague, but I think that the prac and analytic Ma1b tracks cover slightly different material, with the result that you might need to study up on a bit if you switch tracks. Only a bit, though, so no sweat.</p>
<p>To go back more directly to the OP's question at hand, as a frosh, the two (math and physics) are separate from what I can tell, although switching from analytical ph1b to practical ph1c might be a pain to do.</p>
<p>The ph1bc material is calculus based, but I don't see it even remotely requiring ma1bc whatsoever.</p>
<p>Switching from anal ph1b to prac ph1c means you have to make up all the ph1b lab (which would take some time). If you went the other way, you'd have to catch up on some of the relativity, but it wouldn't matter <em>that</em> much. </p>
<p>Ph1bc anal requires multivariate calculus, but they spend several lectures teaching you what you need to know (it's not that complicated stuff, and you don't have to learn the theory behind it like you do in ma1c)</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, switching between the math tracts doesn't involve much work, but I don't think many people switch.</p>
<p>For physics, you can do the practical labs in addition to the analytic track if you're really into that kind of thing and don't mind doing a ton of work. I did just the analytic track for physics and loved it, but kind of wish I had more hands-on experience with E&M.</p>
<p>So it sounds like the consensus is that mixing a practical math tract and an analytical physics tract (given a good background in multivariable calculus already) wouldn't be a problem. Thanks for all the comments - really helps.</p>
<p>Around 73% of last years frosh class did analytic physics for Ph 1 but 58% did practical math for Ma 1, so it's extremely common to mix the two. I've never heard of anyone taking practical physics with analytic math.</p>
<p>I know someone who took prac phys with anal math. They did fine.</p>
<p>There are various reasons you might want to take any particular course "prac" or "anal," as the tracks are commonly called. Depending on which term of which course you are looking at and who happens to be teaching it, one or the other can be more interesting, harder, and/or more useful. For instance, I have heard many students comment that the "prac" math course about differential equations (typically 2b, but they keep changing the order of things) was more directly useful and a better preparation for ACM95 than the "anal" version. But that was in a year when the professor decided to have an "anal" course so proof-heavy that by the end you had no idea how to solve the equations you could prove were solvable... Anyhow, what I really want to be saying is that (1) it's definitely possible to mix and match and even switch, and (2) it's not necessarily always a good idea, and (3) you need to decide based on much more detailed and up-to-date information than you're likely to get here.</p>
<p>Prac physics is often chosen since it satisfies the pre-med requirement for a physics lab.</p>
<p>Prac math 1c was much easier my year compared to anal. Apostol is not an easy book to be learning new concepts from.</p>