Hello everyone. How are you all today? Hope you are all well.
I am a freshmen, and I was just curious and wanted to know the answer to this. What is discrete math? As of my knowledge, it is a class that juniors or seniors may take in high school. In my high school, they don’t require it, but they recommend taking discrete math before AP Statistics. Is there also a reason for this?
I overheard some juniors on the bus talking about how Pre-Calculus was too hard and how they were dropping to Discrete Math which I was started to wonder what it was. When I asked my tutor, he told me I didn’t need to worry about it all.
Sorry if this is a weird or stupid question.
Thanks for answering and have a good day!
P.S. Sorry, I forgot to say this earlier. But it says Discrete Math and Prob/Statistics + Trigonometry. However, they are separate, and Prob/Statistics + Trigonometry is a full year course while Discrete Math is a full year course.
That is math that does not kiss and tell. Never talks about the other subjects’ personal lives. Geometry is indiscreet. Those proofs are all about exposing the secrets of others.
That is okay, I had a good laugh! @Torveaux Thanks for the laugh. But sorry if this is rude but do you really know what Discrete Math is? It is okay if you don’t.
@anthonytheboy well, having TA’ed for a college discrete math class (and currently an algorithms class which uses discrete math extensively), hopefully I can tell you a little bit about it.
It is called “discrete math” because it focuses on discrete structures (such as integers, sets, graphs) as opposed to continuous ones. It might cover number theory, set theory, and logic. Discrete math usually introduces different types of graphs (directed, undirected, DAGs, bipartite, etc.) since graph algorithms are a major topic in CS.
You’ll probably be writing a lot of proofs in discrete math - not the funky-looking 2-column proofs.
I suggest taking discrete math after pre-calculus, but I don’t see why you should take it before AP stats.
@MITer94@threeofthree Thanks for your answers, you guys! I am guessing high school regular discrete math is different from the college edition, but I still thank you. Thanks for your help.
Discrete math is much different than the math you are probably used to. If you are interested in math and are up for a challenge, take the class. It is so beautiful if you choose to ignore the students who complain about how confusing and weird it is.
I think it’s just a less-challenging alternative to pre-calculus, and probably not worth taking. This type of class is also sometimes called “finite mathematics.” A college-level discrete math class will typically have at least Calculus II as a prerequisite and cover the topics people have mentioned above.
At my school, Discrete Math is an alternative to Pre-Calc for students who aren’t as strong in math or seniors who need a math class after finishing the other offered courses. I took it last year and loved it; it was easy for me because it mostly reviewed concepts from Algebra I and II but usually in word-problem format, which was super helpful for the SAT. I’ve heard it’s much more difficult at some other schools, but based on the conversation you overheard, I imagine the class at your school is similar to mine. If you finish Algebra II and feel confident about it, I’d take Pre-Calc instead (definitely if you plan to be a STEM major), but Discrete Math is awesome if you think you need to brush up on the major concepts in Algebra before moving along to more advanced math.