Good Phys. Knowledge vs. Good Math Knowledge

razored

I will attempt to study rudimentary Physics and Calculus on my own over the summer; but my main concern is, what to focus more on, math or physics. What I am asking is, if i become study more and become "good" at Physics, would it also guarantee I would be "good" at Calculus? Or is it the other way around. I hope i'm saying this correctly... but I do know one cannot exist without the other; they are both crucial to survival of each.

sutupidmath

Well, eventhough i do not know much about physics, i could say that in order to be able to fully understand physics you defenitely need to work through calculus 1,2,3, Differential Equations, and probbably also Linear Algebra. But defenitely Calculus I is the key to understanding physics, it is only my opinion thoug. To be a good physicist one needs to be a good mathematician first!! While the vice-versa is not nessesary! you can be a great mathematician but a horrible physicist!

CRGreathouse

If you don't know your calculus forward and backward, you won't do well in physics. DiffEq, Linear Algebra, and maybe some computer programming would also serve well.