Plane Geometry...do i really need to take it?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>i have finished intermediate algebra and my cc requires me to take plane geometry before i can move onto precalculus and then calculus. from what i understand Calculus definitely requires knowledge of trigonometry but do i really need to take geometry? i feel kinda silly drawing shapes and circles with a protractor and compass, mainly cause i'm not sure if this will be any use to me in calculus. will it?</p>

2

<p>Yes geometry is absolutely essential for future math classes. Calculus will draw upon all the things you have learned prior to calculus. I took geometry about 10 years ago so I don’t remember what’s covered in the class, but you need to know at least some of the basics in order to progress any further in math.</p>

3

<p>It really isn’t all that useful. It is the first time in mathematics that they present you with proofs so I can see why they want you to take it, but really there is no applications in calculus that aren’t provided by trigonometry.</p>

<p>For me personalty my education completely skipped over it.
Algerbra 1 -> Algrabra 2 -> Pre-Calc (trig) -> Calc(1-3)</p>

<p>After pre-calc, my high school counselor discovered that I had not taken geometry so I was required to take it in my sophomore year, needless to say it was a waste of time and it was throughly useless even after completing multi-variable calculus.</p>

<p>Do not skip any algebra or trigonometry classes though.</p>

4

<p>I agree with @feedayeen, Geometry is really not that useful at all in higher level math courses. Furthermore, almost all CCC’s let you waive taking the class if you completed it with a grade of “C” or better in highschool. So I would look in to that as well.</p>

<p>All the best</p>

5

<p>geometry is useless.
trig is vital</p>

<p>that is all.</p>

6

<p>How do you take trig/precalc without geometry knowledge? I don’t remember the class very well, but I do recall learning the basics of geometry that were required for trig in that class.</p>

7

<p>Proofs and knowing how to use a 30-60-90 triangle hasn’t done much for me in my engineering, math, and physics classes. </p>

<p>You’ll need to know trig and algebra backwards though…</p>

8

<p>rikizle:</p>

<p>I am going to interpret this question as, “how did you pass higher level math classes without geometry knowledge?”</p>

<p>Simply, there are no real applications to that knowledge.</p>

<p>The trig material is about as useful as staring at Wikipedia’s unit circle for a few hours.
<a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Circle-trig6.svg[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Circle-trig6.svg&lt;/a&gt;
(don’t bother understanding anything other than COS,SIN,TAN and their inverses of SEC,CSC,COT)</p>

<p>The formulas given are either given in the problems and just plug-in-chug or proven by you in Calc2</p>

<p>The bulk of the remainder of the material either consists of either proving equality of inequality, useless unless you happen to have 2 protractors and only 1 ruler -ASA- or vise versa -SAS- (or you could be wild with 3 rulers and no protractors -SSS-) when measuring an object with a corner.</p>

9

<p>Is Geometry easy then? i’m kind of worried; i’ll be taking Geometry this fall when, according to you guys, it will be useless to me in future precalc/calc classes, even though its a required pre-req for Precalc at my college.</p>

<p>In addition to that, my college requires a seperate Trigonometry class before you can take Precalc.</p>

<p>I’ve been doing some self-studying on some Trigonometry lately…is it really necessary to take a whole semester to learn this stuff? My plan as of right now is to study Trigonometry by myself while taking the Plane Geometry class, and then skip the Trig class, and go straight into Precalc by Spr 2011 via placement test. is this doable? </p>

<p>i’ve haven’t gotten too far into Trigonometry yet…just basic stuff like SOHCAHTOA, memorizing the unit circle, and studying the graphs of cos, sin, tan, sec csc, and cot. haven’t really gotten into trigonometric identities or equations yet…like i know what the cofunction and reciporical identities are but i haven’t really done any actual math problems using these things. Also, any good websites or books for studying Trig on your own?</p>

10

<p>Trigonometry is a full semester class.</p>

<p>The trigonometric identities that you will be memorizing evolve into trigonometric proofs. These are problems where you are given two different equations that will look something like:</p>

<p>(sin(x)*x)/tan(arctan(x)) and (sin(x)^2 + cos(x)^2)/csc(x)</p>

<p>Your goal is to either prove that they are equal or inequal. (BTW: I believe that those two are)</p>

<p>When you get to Calculus, these identities will be very useful in simplifying integration problems.</p>

<p>The other really important area of trigonometry is the coordinate system conversion. If you continue on in calculus past the first semester, you will begin dealing with solids. Many of these (spheres and vase like things) are much easier when you convert the functions from a rectangular coordinate system into spherical and polar.</p>