Calculus takes
a complicated picture and makes it small so you can apply the math you know.
Calculus brings finance majors, business people, engineers, scientists, mathematicians and educators together. Some students easily recognize the beauty in the equations that the professor keeps trying to share. Others get stuck in the abstractness of the math. This often is frustrating for both students and teachers as the class becomes a hurdle to be jumped -- eyes closed if possible. But if you let yourself, you can enjoy learning about the types of real-life problems led to the invention of calculus, and how you can use it to solve some new ones.
Instructions
1. Relax. Anxiety can make it difficult to access knowledge you already have, let alone learn new ideas. Consider exercising or meditation to release endorphins in the brain that not only numb pain but help you feel optimistic and open to new ideas. You know do the math. Calculus takes impossible situations and changes them so you can apply the math you already understand. It does this by focusing on multiple little points in time where things are not changing, applying regular math and then adding everything back together.
2. Focus on the applications. Imagine that your dream is to build the perfect alternative-energy vehicle. Fuel efficiency is key, and you live in Pittsburgh with lots of hilly roads where conditions are constantly changing because of the weather. You can easily determine how much energy your engine must produce in fixed conditions, but you are trying to minimize the car's fuel needs. You want to create an engine that adapts to use the least amount of fuel energy possible in each condition. Calculus's big idea, derivatives, provides the answer because it teaches you adapt equations to adjust for constantly changing conditions. Suddenly those slopes and hills are flat, and the math you have mastered is easy to apply.
3. Challenge yourself to find as many ways as possible to apply calculus to your area of interest. There is a reason calculus is required. Find it. Focus on the problems of adapting equations to changing conditions. Remember, it doesn't have to be a spatial problem. For example, derivatives are an important tool for understanding economic trends.
4. Make is social. Study groups not only help you learn difficult material, they make learning more fun. Challenge each other to find something to like about calculus, and share it with the group. Reinforcing each other's ideas and plans to use calculus in their chosen fields can make it fun for everyone.
Tags: apply math, Calculus takes, changing conditions, constantly changing, each other