Tweet
For the math-physics studs: Do you guys actually have a good command and intutive feel for multivariable calc and PDE? I felt like I could handle integral and differential calc. But I never got the div/grad/curl thing straight. Is that a common issue?
-
-
yeahWe the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. - Abraham Lincoln -
I'd say I have an intuitive feel for vector cal. Taking a class on it, and a few physics classes where it's heavily used would do that to a person. In lots of physics (for instance, electro), it's fundamental. It's suprisingly simple when you get down to it; you've got a few differential operators, and you can map differential forms to a higher/lower order one with these operators, and you get those three neat theorems - and it's all geometrically intuitive. Work with them a little, and you can catch on just fine.
PDE's, no. I don't know how anyone can have a truly intuitive feel for them. I might have a good command depending on how you define "good."Last edited by Ramo; January 1, 2004, 13:58."Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way. "
-BokononComment
-
no problem really
multivariable seems like second nature
but than I had like 3 classes in them in my first two years of college
and of course, I am hard pressed to name a class that I have taken since my freshman (?) year that didn't use Multivariable
I have had a number of classes that dealt with PDE's also, but routinely find myself out of practice in dealing with them (I am right now, for example, did not deal with many this last semester)
Jon MillerJon Miller-
I AM.CANADIAN
GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.Comment
-
I also have a hard time with classical E/M.Comment
-
So I think part of the problem with me is that I got a B in 3rd semester (multivariable) calc and never really got it down. If I studied it, would I be able to grasp it and have a decent feel for it?
P.s. I was such a geek that I asked for and got a copy of Arfken for Christmas.Comment
-
P.s. were there any comments made in the previous copy of this thread?Comment
-
Arfken is fine as a review, is crap to learn from though
Jon MillerJon Miller-
I AM.CANADIAN
GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.Comment
-
can I recommend Jackson to alleiviate your E&M problems?
Jon MillerJon Miller-
I AM.CANADIAN
GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.Comment
-
I think that you probably just need to do problems
two birds with one stone sort of thing
JOn MillerJon Miller-
I AM.CANADIAN
GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.Comment
-
Well...for Jackson, can it be studied by somone with my level of knowledge? Or do I need something easier. As for Arfken, it does not have problem solutions. I wonder if there is an answer book that I can buy. What do you suggest to learn from?Comment
-
Try Griffiths."Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way. "
-BokononComment
-
text name?Comment
-
Intro to Electrodynamics I think. It was probably the best text I've used at UT."Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way. "
-BokononComment
-
But I never got the div/grad/curl thing straight
To me, it seems a lot more intuitive when its applied to a physical scenario than to a purely mathematical or geometric contemplation.One day Canada will rule the world, and then we'll all be sorry.Comment
Comment