When will I ever use the stuff I'm learning in Calculus II?

Question

Like inverse trig functions and all this convergent divergent series stuff!!

Answer 1

You might! Really.

But what it is important for right now is teaching your brain how to cope with complex systems that follow rigid rules. If you can grasp & control that basic notion by mastering Calculus, you can do anything.

Trust me!

Good luck!

Answer 2

The truth of the matter is that most people who don't go into careers in math, science, or engineering will never use the math they learned in high school. For most people, inverse trig functions and convergent and divergent series are not useful in every day life. However, when you study these topics you are learning to make sense of and adapt to a new system. You are learning to take different approaches to problem solving and to evaluate whether your solutions are reasonable. You are training your brain in new ways of thinking and gaining valuable analytical skills that you will use in your adult life no matter what career you choose. Studying math makes you smart and a good problem solver. Try to focus on understanding how and why things work in math instead of just getting the right answer. The analytical skills you gain here will take you far.

Answer 3

A great deal depends on what you do for a living, doesn't it? If you flip hamburgers at a fast food joint, you will never use it. If you're in engineering, or if you do any serious mathematical modelling (and despite being a physician, I have to point out that I do a reasonable amount of it, believe it or not, but I'm atypical) you'll use it, possibly heavily.

Also, you have to realize that although the actual stuff you're learning is significant, the really important thing that you should hopefully be absorbing is the **method of precise thought** that is inherent in all this. I'd hope that you'd use that in almost any reasonable form of endeavor you take up--perhaps even flipping burgers at a fast food joint.

Answer 4

I asked myself that exact same question when I was a freshman engineer at Purdue. In the working world, I think you just need a basic idea of how the stuff works, and you can let the computers do all of the crummy longhand work that you do in calc II. In my opinion, I think it's a good test of whether you can stick with something as dry and difficult as calc II. If you can get through it, you can probably do the sort of work that engineers and physicists do without going crazy or giving up. Me? I switched majors.

Answer 5

If you ever decide to become a draftsman or use the Auto Cad program you will find that you need to have calculus to ascertain ratios, calculate speed and distance, understand levers and cantilever action, understand how hydraulics work, even to paint a house. You can do a math calculation with calculus that will give you the exact amount of paint that you need to cover your house.

Answer 6

Probably not, unless you decide to be an engineer or something! But (as my Dad always says!) "It helps you to think logically." I haven't done calculus yet. I just finished Algebra 2 this year, and am going for Triginometry next year.

Answer 7

I know calculus II sucks because I am taking it right now. but engineer do use integration and all that stuff.

Answer 8

When you start to teach Calculus II.

Answer 9

I was wondering the same thing when I took that subject.
But I think if you are an engineer, you are going to need those stuff.

Answer 10

The only time you will use it is to answer questions on Yahoo involving integration.

So, no.