What kind of math do you do in engineering?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I like math (I took intro to differential equations last year as a freshman and really liked it) but I was just wondering what kind of math do you do in your engineering courses?</p>

<p>For example majors like aerospace, mechanical, naval, etc. where there is a lot of physics (and as a result a lot of math). What about others, like chemical or materials science? What kind of math do you do in those engineering majors where there is less physics?</p>

<p>Also on a side note, what is the physics like? I took general physics 1 and thought it was totally stupid but looking back I think it was simply because the math was too simple (simple as in only a bunch of algebra and arithmetic).</p>

<p>thanks</p>

2

<p>Engineering majors should be taking general physics with more math – calculus for mechanics, multivariable calculus for electricity and magnetism.</p>

3

<p>You should use a good amount of the stuff you learned in differential equations. I am a junior in civil engineering and I have been using differential equations in several of my classes this semester. Mechanical will use more than civil. I don’t know about the others.</p>

4

<p>Two of my Electrical Engineering courses are pretty much 100% math so far this term. Vector and multivariable calculus in electromagnetics, and then differential equations in my dynamic systems class (signals, etc.).</p>

5

<p>In ChemE you take 3 semesters of Calc and 1 semester of Differential Equations</p>

6

<p>^^Same here for electrical</p>

7

<p>After the calc series and diff equ, there’s finite element analysis (FEA) and engineering analysis for MechE. I’m taking engineering analysis this semester and so far it’s partial differential equations (heat equation and the Fourier Series) and linear algebra (eigenvalues). MechE has to take both FEA and engineering analysis while Aero only has to do engineering analysis. </p>

<p>I’m Aero so I don’t have to take FEA, but I heard it’s one of the hardest class in the MechE curriculum.</p>

<p>Physics I and II are just intro courses so you won’t see any difficult math there. When you revisit the concepts in the upper division engineering classes, you’ll definitely see more integrals but nothing too difficult.</p>