/sci/ - Science & Math

>>10100572
Probably because calculus requires hardwork, visual and verbal aptitude. If you lack in any, it would seem to indicate greater dificulity, the lower your abilities are

>>10100572
I have heard people say calc 2 is a weeder class, but never calc 1. If you failed it twice it probably isn't the courses fault. Have you tried seeking out a tutor?

Personally i thought calc was easy, and trig/algebra the were harder classes.

>>10100990
My IQ is 135, I am very good at recognizing patterns, visualizing, and finding solutions. I feel a strong lack of resources when it comes to calculus. I have so little to work with. All the notes and problem sets I get from class only provide me with a list of equations and just one sentence like "Find the derivative of f(x)". I can't get enough repetition to recognize any patterns, the problems take forever to work through. I don't even get an answer key for practice problems. If I had some way to test how the changes of certain variables effect the equation's outcomes in real time, it would all make so much more sense. My boomer professor probably hasn't actually taught anything for at least 25 years. He just speeds through the problems assuming that his students somehow already have a life-long understanding of mathematics.

>>10101009
Every time I've taken it, less than half the students remained after the withdrawal deadline.

>>10101039
Nigger your IQ isn't 135. If that were the case, you wouldn't have failed literally babby's first calculus course. And that's okay -- the world isn't /sci/. You can be of average intelligence and live a great life.

Are you even reading the textbook (specifically, the chapters and sections corresponding to your lectures)?

>>10101039
>My IQ is 135
>can’t pass calculus
This ain’t it, chief.

>>10100572
I took calc 1&2 in high school with college credit. The class was like 30 for calc 1 but only 6 remained in calc 2. It was really rough and math is my best subject. It just took a lot of time and eventually a light bulb would go off and I’d just understand it.

Profit margins are pretty easy to calculate, I’m unfamiliar with the software engineering but I’m guessing it’s more user friendly. Calculus is a different story beside they’re going to want you to workout as much as possible by hand so they know you really understand it. I would put in a lot of work if I were you and that academy guy on YouTube helped me learned a few individual concepts (better than my book a lot of the time)

>>10101009
I actually had to drop calc 1 my first time around, then I took calc 2, 3, diff eqs, linear algebra, and aced them.
Calc 1 has still been the hardest math class I've ever taken, for some reason, but then again the highest math I've ever taken is first quarter of analysis, and that was for fun. (EE major)

>>10101039
Work through past exam papers.
Get someone to check your answers.
Win.

Post one problem you can't do, with your best effort at solving it.

>>10101062
>>10101063
It's the basic stuff I fuck up on. I'm good at dealing with complexity, however I have trouble abiding to the methods these professors force me to use. It seems like the more they dumb it down for other students, the harder it gets for me to follow along. I can use logic to solve some of the hardest problems in my head, but solving all the problems using the prescribed methods drives me insane.

>>10100572
>>10101039
>I have failed my university Calculus course twice already, despite earning a B+ in statistics and Math 101.
>Math 101
>As if everyone who teaches calculus is an NPC
>My IQ is 135
>boomer professor
you need to spend less time on this place, you're turning into a living meme

>>10101086
>It seems like the more they dumb it down for other students, the harder it gets for me to follow along
>I can use logic to solve some of the hardest problems in my head
are you unironically implying you're too smart to learn calculus? Post one of the problems you can solve in your head and post some problems you're struggling with.

>>10101086
Pick up Piskunov Calculus or Calculus: An Intuitive and Physical Approach, and see if you like the books.

>>10101086
>dude, it's so easy that i keep getting it wrong!!!
please stop posting

>>10100572
do you post on /pol/ by any chance
just curious

>>10101086
Just dumb yourself down and "turn your brain off". Do exactly what is asked of you, like an ape.

>>10101104
lul

>>10101086
What book are you learning from? Stewart's Calculus?

>>10101082
>>10101095
A problem I solved without writing out any proper calc equations.

>>10100572
>B+
>in stats and math 101

yep, brainlet detected. nothing more to see here folks

>>10101082
>>10101095
Some of the problems I struggle with. Mostly because I have no idea where to start, what the rules are (what I can/cannot do with the problem), what my answer should look like, or what this is used for.

>>10101125
>>10101132
You just went from a simple find the dimension of a surface area to a derivative problem

What

>>10101132
You can literally type these into alphawolfphram and find the answer and see how they’re worked out

>>10101039
Do you understand what a function is?
What a derivative is?
How the 'rules' used to derivate come from the limit definition?
Do you know alternative definitions?
Do you try to calculate simple problems yourself?

If you cant solve a problem you can try to solve a simpler problem.

If you fail because you dont know definitions then fuckin read a book or two or three until you remember them. Or a version of them.

>>10101039
If you are so good at recognozing patterns you would realize that the rules of differentiation come from patterns you can find from the first principles definition of the derivative as a limit. Literally differentiate any function using the limit of the difference quotient and you can derive the rules yourself. When you realize this, you can proceed to forget it and just apply the rules of differentiation. There is really not that much to it.

>>10101111
This has worked for me in the past. The only problem with dumbing myself down is I end up retaining nothing, making it hard on myself later on.

>>10100572
learn the jargon?

/thread

>>10101147
Fake it till you make it. Sometimes I find that if I don't understand something conceptually, just going through the steps of solving some problems algorithmically actually ends up making me think about and understand why I am doing the steps I'm doing.

>>10101132
Ok here goes.
You need to learn the certain rules for derivation.
* algebraic functions ( + × ÷ )
* the chain rule

Also it helps if you understand what deriving is and why it is a function.
Also calc 1 is where you begin to learn what funcions arr and how to work with them.

Finally, if you want to learn you have to work through problems that you dont understand.

Learning is about expanding your limits (so you must first reach them).
Its not so much about iq as its about work.

>>10101132
ah common problem with calc students, trash at alg. Always simplify the equation before taking the derivative. Here you could use the quotient rule straight off the bat and suffer carpal tunnel, or rewrite the ratio as 9 * (2x^(3)-3x^(2)+7)^(-5) factor out the 9 and just take the derivative of the denominator. If thats all foreign to you i advise you check out khan academy playlist on diferential calculus (constant rule, product rule and chain rule.)

>>10101137
kek

>>10101145
The problems that involve the difference quotient always kill me. They take up so much of my exam time, causing my anxiety to skyrocket. There's usually some square root in the problem that throws me off and I get stuck. Of course, my professor is the type that throws all sorts of algebra into the problems which we never even went over in class.

I guess I just gotta deal with it the hard way.

>>10101160
1/x = x^(-1)
Sqrt(x) = x^(1/2)

>>10101160
Your foundation on math is pretty trash atleast when it comes to simplification, and hence why you have a hard time with simple functions

>>10101009
Same for me, I has in retard algebra in highschool and it scared me off math for a long time. Then i finally took my calc requirements and was getting 90s on exams when the class avg was rarely above 50s.

My prof made us dp a ton of exercises every day though so it really drilled it in. Calc 2 seemed easier for the most part, until the end of the semester stuff dipping our toes into diffeqs and all that.

>>10101160
then just rewrite the square root as ^1/2, Mr. 135 IQ

>>10100572
why don't you show us your problem solving and see if anyone can give you tips instead of gloating about your iq and mental problems

>>10101132
hahaaha you're a fucking retard man. No fucking way your iq is 135. You can't take a fucking derivative are you kidding me? I could train my dog to drag a piece of chalk across the parking lot and give me the derivative for that easy ass function. You're going to fail out of school for sure. Maybe think about plumbing

I think you might benefit from some humility. You are not an extremely gifted mind who is above all these petty rules and "jargon". You dont understand the fundamentals, simple as that. All three of the problems you posted are simple applications of the chain rule and/or product rule. They are not tricks, there is no gimmick. Accept that for whatever reasons, you are weak at math right now.
You can always get better, but drop this bullshit attitude.

>>10101087
unfortunately, he's right

>>10100572
Nigga you ain't solving jack shit for physics using calculus if you can't take a simple derivative. You're a motherfucking retard knuckle dragger. You can't even tell me what a derivative is you fucking idiot.

>>10101279
I am able to compute the derivative in easier problems, I just haven't learned all the rules yet for the harder ones. I also want to understand what taking the derivative does for me, like what is it used for in business management. It's hard to imagine what all this means when all I have are numbers and unassigned variables. I'd like to somehow develop an understanding behind the logic of the operations, not just perform mindless arithmetic.

>>10101307
Here is the issue. These are all easy problems. The SAME rules apply to the easy problems as they do the hard problems. If you had a HIGH enough IQ you'd be able to notice these PATTERNS. If you could ACTUALLY comprehend what the derivative is you wouldn't be on here posting about trivial topics such as these. If you can't imagine a what the derivative does for you with respect to displacement and time then you should just kill yourself.

>>10101305
93% in physics
98.78% in accounting (class avg. was 72%)

Both completed during a 4-week summer session. I did all 12 chapters of accounting assignments and exams in under 2 weeks. I'm no brainlet when it comes to applying math.

A calculus course for me is like going through life in 2D. However, applying specific principles in the context of other courses feels like more of a 3D perspective.

>>10101321
You didn't take calculus based physics that's for sure you brainlet. Don't fucking talk to me because you can't do a derivative and for sure as fuck cant do an integral. You belong in the sewer. Go get a 93% in highschool physics again retard.

>>10101307
Derivatives tell you how fast a graph is changing. If you have some normal 2d plot, the derivative will tell you, for any value x you plug in, how fast x is changing at that precise spot on the graph. Basically point at a spot on a graph, the slope at that spot is the derivative. Lots of applications.

>>10100572
i was the same way, and it's because of the shitty K-12 maths education. my IQ isn't as high as yours (128, WAIS-tested), but I too failed Calc 1, since I was too preoccupied with actually trying to understand the material while simpleton subhumans would just rote-memorize the methods and invoke monkey-see, monkey-do. calc 1 is just one of those classes where legitimately stupid people do better.

>>10101325
So in business terms, the derivative can be used to calculate the marginal profit at any specific quantity. I can compute those simple functions because I have an idea of where each of the variables are coming from (price, revenue, cost, profit, etc.).

When it comes to the problems that contain additional levels complexity, while offering no context as to there the values come from, I feel lost.

>>10101307
1. Same rules apply for those three questions

2. When you take the derivative of a function you are essentially finding the "instantaneous" change at any moment.

3. read a book about calculus, go to khan academy (really good for intuition) idk go learn Mr. "muh iq 135"

>racist turd
>brainlet
What a surprise.

>>10101324
kek

>>10101307
look up quotient rule. product rule is for derivatives too. you are right in the sense that it is mostly meaningless arithmetic but they still teach it and require it. product rule and memorizing the common derivatives are all the derivative techniques you need to know for the rest of your life on hand that is. everyone just uses a computer. if you're good at patterns go to derivative calculator and it literally shows all steps. integral calculator for calc 2

>>10101345
bro fuck your buisness shit, learn the calculus first then apply your knowledge to buisness, no one here gives a fuck about buisness

>>10101352
I bet you can't even compute the derivative of deez nuts. Ha! got-eeeem!

Dunning-Kruger effect. You're too stupid to understand how stupid you truly are. Should have gone into a trade instead.

>>10101136
The first is a way to demonstrate the power rule

>>10101039
>I can't get enough repetition to recognize any patterns

happened to me in some classes, but I have no sympathy for you in your case since you can pretty much use any software to compute for you to check your answers... and you can make up your own problems... and if you fear it's impossible to find a closed form for, say, an integral, type it into wolfram first and see if it gives a closed form in terms of functions you know, then unless you pick something retardedly difficult you can solve it using basic calculus... also there's no real patterns, just learn (fg)'=f'g+fg' and x^n'=n*x^(n-1) and build your solutions like you'd do with a set of lego it's always the same stuff really

>>10100572
Quit trolling Frédéric

>>10101039

IQ doesn't make you automatically good at something, you still have to study, don't think that being somewhat smarter than average excuses you from working hard and studying

>>10101039
>IQ of 135
>can't understand the derivative

I'm a turbo brainlet and even I didn't have this much trouble with calc 1.

>>10101368
not op. I am afraid this is me, even though I am not as dumb as op. I have trouble with real world stuff instead of this stuff though, as though I am a normie brainlet and not a /sci/ brainlet, if that makes sense.

>>10101321
According to that logic I must have like a 160 IQ because I did Linear Algebra in a summer course, lol.
Also,
>
A calculus course for me is like going through life in 2D. However, applying specific principles in the context of other courses feels like more of a 3D perspective.

I can already see you blowing your brains out when you get to the chain rule in calc 3. Drop your attitude, nothing you do up till real analysis/insert proof based course here has any bearing on intelligence as much as it does putting in the work.
You're not smart, just extremely autistic
Pic related is you, nigger.

>>10100572
it seems like you have a lot of trouble generalizing concepts

>>10101325
No, watch vid related you nigger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vKqVkMQHKk

I can't believe somebody really good at recognizing patterns find pure abstract variables unreasonable and can't create related data in head to work with.

>>10100572
> lack of context
> excessive jargon
> non-sensical assignment of variables

Care to elaborate this - give me an example?

>>10101421
>it's not the rate of change at a moment
>it's the best approximation of the rate of change around that moment

wow mind blowing thanks.
this guy can't do the chain rule, he doesn't need a video telling him that everything he should have learned isn't quite true.

>>10101417
>when you get to the chain rule in calc 3
What? Surely you do the chain rule in calc 1?

>>10102058
The chain rule for multivariable functions.

Here's a tough redpill to swallow:
If you think everyone else is an NPC, you're the NPC. Calculus is taught the same way everywhere because they're trying to make sure students not only take away basic principles of the material, but also make sure that they have some skills to do abstract reasoning. If you get lost in the variables that's literally a failure to do abstract reasoning. It's not your fault that you're an NPC , but just know that the way you've described your experience with calculus makes it pretty clear to me that you're hopeless.
I've been tutoring math for my university for years and I've seen and heard a big variety of opinions and learning styles. I get to see the patterns in how some approaches work for succeeding in calculus. Likewise I've gotten accustomed to a big list of red flats indicating when someone is beyond help.
Here's the thing: if you have a bad instructor that's one thing. That really can make a difference for some people. But you failed twice and can't even understand YouTube videos. And you have the audacity to call everyone else an NPC, as if they're the problem. I hated outright hated my Calc 1 teacher and the way he taught it. But because I'm not an NPC, the first week of class I just read ahead and did all the homework assigned for the term, and never had to show up except to turn in homework and take tests. I learned calculus in a week out of spite. You're too stupid to learn calculus in two terms presumably with 2 different instructors. That doesn't make your teachers an NPC. That makes you an NPC. You're the type of people that Calc 1 and 2 are trying to filter out.

>>10101125
>Page is 24 square inches. Its sides are 8x16. 8*16 = 128.
Uhuh

>>10101039
People who post IQs are fucking retarded.

>>10102147
It literally needs to be banned on /sci/ like perms if u post your IQ score and actually take it seriously

>>10102121
Bahahahaha!! Didn’t even catch that but ya shouldn’t it be 4x6 (2:3) = 24sq inches

>>10100572
>”redpill me”
>fails calculus twice
Checks out

>>10101307
Stop over thinking the material and just plug and chug until it clicks. "instantaneous rate of change" is going to seem contradictory at first to anyone that isn't a complete brainlet, but if you study and do your homework, you'll understand how calculus reconciles that apparent contradiction. Sometimes you need to turn your brain off while consuming the material until the material itself turns it back on for you, so to speak.

>>10101345
so just imagine f(x) is revenue and x is quantity? theres nothing more to it than simple imagination

also fun fact you stop producing when marginal profit is 0 at quantity of x or in other words marginal revenue = marginal cost and for X<x marginal revenue > marginal cost, since for those values you will be profiting of every sale where as after the 0 you should imagine marginal revenue dipping below marginal cost, meaning you make a loss on every sale

>>10100572
Your understanding of concepts like variables and the like is too rigid, and solely informed through their application in subjects you do well in (like algebra and arithmetic). You need to relearn some of these concepts and definitions from square one before you can study their more advanced applications. I've dealt with this personally, except I was able to modify my understanding before major exams and managed to ace all my calculus courses. If you aren't able to do this than abstract thought isn't your forte. If that turns out to be the case then that doesn't make you a brainlet. It just means that you aren't naturally inclined towards that sort of thinking, but hard work can get pretty close to supplementing natural talent.

>>10100572
>Redpill me
GTFO pill-popping /pol/esmoker

You're an absolute dipshit.
You are absolutely below average intelligence if not very low.
Your sense of self worth and your perception of your intelligence is inaccurate. You are not smart.

>>10102022
No, that's EXACTLY what he needs; its obvious his professor is a brainlet who defined a derivative by limit definitions whose x gets "infinitely small"

>>10102022
>that everything he should have learned isn't quite true.
>professor says something that does not make sense
>anon expects the student to understand the concept
It's like a professor of mine who introduced pointers in C by saying they are variables that point to other variables, like that makes any sense to someone who doesn't already know what pointers are.

>>10103368
>>10103534
OP here. After watching several videos like ones posted in this thread, I have come to realize that my professor either give no fucks about his students or he is just an evil boomer who gets off on fucking over millennials. The guy makes us take 100% hand-written notes. To make it even worse, he writes all the notes on plain white paper which gets projected on to a small ass flat screen tv. The field of view is so small that you can barely see half of a problem being worked on at any given time. Everyone in the class is visibly distressed as they scribble the notes in and miss 90% of the things he says along the way. Since the projection area is so small, he doesn't even bother showing us how to graph a function.

My last professor was Chinese and I couldn't understand a damn thing he said. "we use carcurus to fine tha derifitiv of tha function, buh fir we mus fine eff-oh-eh"

Higher education is a joke.

>>10103613
>he doesn't even bother showing us how to graph a function.

>>10101125
>A problem I solved without writing out any proper calc equations.
lmao no you didn't.

>>10103621
I know. It's 6x9in, unlike the other brainlets in this thread.

>>10103613
Why are you relying on websites and videos if your lectures aren't working for you, instead of just getting a textbook?
You'd be able to see everything in full detail at whatever speed you want, with worked examples, problems and figures. It will be more work, but you've already failed twice, and you'll need textbooks for more advanced maths so it's better to just get used to it now while you're still dealing with babby topics, like calc 1 (studied by 15-16 year-olds in Europe).
You need to stop being so lazy -- looking for intuitive shortcuts -- and study properly. It also seems like your elementary algebra is weak, since you get confused by expressions like these (>>10101132) where you just need to simplify some algebra and rewrite stuff like sqrt x = x^0.5, or 1/x = x^-1 and apply the chain rule, and you claim:
>Since the projection area is so small, he doesn't even bother showing us how to graph a function.
which shouldn't matter, because you should be able to sketch the curve yourself, or to manipulate it algebraically without needing to draw a graph. Unless you mean you don't even know how to graph a function, in which case your algebra is REALLY lacking. Either way, you need to review your elementary algebra then get to studying calculus properly from a textbook.

>>10103639
I took pre-calc 6 years ago, so I have forgotten most of it. I also had a good teacher (I went to one of the best public schools in the nation). I got an A- in pre-calc thanks to the teacher who actually cared.

My text book is for this uni course is garbage. All they provide in the chapter lessons is a few definitions that make no sense to anyone not majoring in mathematics, a couple of example problems, and they purposefully exclude any examples which involve more algebra. So the text is worthless to reference for half the homework I am responsible for.

>>10103625
If you are OP you are still wrong maybe you should learn how to use calculus and properly solve it instead of guessing.

>>10101185
Same here, like calculus just clicked for me, despite algebra in high school fucking my shit up. I have no idea how that worked out, but whatever.

>>10101039
> IQ 135
> can’t use Wolfram or Desmos to check answer
> can’t use a fucking graphing calculator
> can’t even fucking watch any of the millions of calculus videos on YouTube
> can’t do power rule
> shitposts on /sci/

Honestly man, you should re-evaluate your prirotites. Go study dammit. I’m about to be living a lliteral meme and even I passed calculus with no struggle.

No one here will take you seriously if you can’t do calculus 1. Even stats uses calculus

Granted this is also true >>10101062

>>10100572
>I have failed my university Calculus course twice already
Youre either 80 iq or you didnt actually put in any effort. You could teach yourself basic calculus in a day and become proficient on basic problems in a week.

>>10101321
I passed several accounting / finance & management classes with 90+ grades. I had passed calc 1 in HS. I don’t have a 135 IQ. It seems you lack the grasp of the rules of calc and how to spot when a rule needs to be used. Best of luck!

>help I failed Calc 1, a class literally taken by high schoolers, twice
>black people are stupid and can't math
Kill yourself whiteboy

>>10101009
This. Either Algebra/Trig is hard, or I simply didn't try enough in them, maybe a little bit of both. But I can easily get 100% most exams and assignments in Calc 1 and 2.

>environmental science major
>63% in calc I
Admitting I'm a brainlet is the first step
Though I've thought about trying to learn it on my own for kicks. More to see if I can as opposed to any real practical application

>>10100990
>Probably because calculus requires hardwork
Remembering several theorems in which you plug and chug into is is not hard work

>>10101132
Bruh if you can't even do these you have no hope in any preceding class

>>10106659
I almost failed my calc 1 class but then got an A in every class after. Hell i even got A's in thermodynamics and fluids which are notoriously hard. It's just that for me calc required sort of a different sort of thought and didn't involve solving for numerical results but variables. Eventually i picked it up by calc 2 and i even liked the series and sequences part of calc 2 which everyone seems to hate.

>>10100572
Are you me?

>>10101132
Whoa, I just remembered the quotient rule exists. I'm in 3rd year of uni

>>10106856
That's what I liked about it. You learn a couple rules and then you don't have to do any real work for a semester

>>10103333

>>10103337
found the newfag

>>10100572
short story, you're a brainlet

I was like you op, then i actually started paying attention in class and doing homework. Now i do well in math.

>>10100572
>>10101039

Your problem is that you are trying to find deeper meaning in everything, stop been such a brainlet, and start studying.

Just take Calculus - Michael Spivak, and take it, read it all, and do all exercises without cheating actually do them and do not copy them from anywhere, you can ask arround.

If you do that, you'll know the real meaning of learning *Basic* calculus.

You should be studying right now, get to work.

>>10102147
>>10103086
God I really wish the mods would do this.

I come to sci to discuss interesting things I've learned in maths/science or to bitch about uni but it's filled with the same egotistical retards that consume my program.

If you think of knowledge or intelligence as something to hold over someones head to show superiority, then you're no better than the people who undoubtedly bullied you throughout middle school and high school.
Knowledge is meant to be shared and appreciated, not used to make others feel lesser.