How Much Harder Is Calculus 2 vs Calculus 1?

[Chunkysalsa]

Where 2 is mostly Intergral and Series and 1 is Derivative.

I just want to know what to expect since I'll be taking calc2 with some other hard classes. I easily made an A in calc 1 and my calc 2 professor is supposed to be much better.

Anything I should review before hand?

 

[xcvxcvvc]

calc 2 is just as easy as calc 1.

 

[thrill3rnit3]

Not more difficult in terms of concepts [ it's just an extension of integration techniques plus series ], but more tedious algebra.

 

[fluidistic]

Are your courses proof based?
Shouldn't be significantly harder than calc. 1 in my opinion.

 

[johnnyies]

easy as calc 1

 

[Chunkysalsa]

Sounds good because I thought Calc 1 was pretty easy. Hardest part was not the calculus but the algebra in some of the harder derivatives.

We had no proofs in calc 1 and its the same book so I don't imagine any in calc2.

I'm more worried about Physics I. All of these horror stories about it. Although I know that people who do decent usually don't talk while those that failed will complain all day long.

 

[thrill3rnit3]

I'm more worried about Physics I. All of these horror stories about it. Although I know that people who do decent usually don't talk while those that failed will complain all day long.

Free body diagrams are your best friend.

 

[owlpride]

Calc 2 will actually use all that trig stuff you learned in pre-calc. Conceptually calc 2 shouldn't be any harder than calc 1, but the problems might be harder. Finding derivatives is straight forward; antiderivatives, not so much.

 

[cjl]

I'm going to disagree with most people here, and say that calc 2 is harder than calc 1. I wouldn't say it's terribly difficult, and you shouldn't have a problem if you found calc 1 to be easy, but it definitely has some more difficult problems. Conceptually, it's probably about the same, but the actual problems can be a bit more involved.

 

[kaos86]

I'm going to disagree with most people here, and say that calc 2 is harder than calc 1. I wouldn't say it's terribly difficult, and you shouldn't have a problem if you found calc 1 to be easy, but it definitely has some more difficult problems. Conceptually, it's probably about the same, but the actual problems can be a bit more involved.

I have to agree with cjl. Calc 2 is a bit difficult because it is more involved and you have to go back and review all your trig. identities you've learned in trigonometry. Also, you have to remember the derivatives of the trig functions, but it should not be hard to remember if you know how to derive them.

So, here's what you should review:

1.) Trig. identities from trigonometry. (Trust me, it helps.)

2.) Review a bit of pre-calculus. For example, slant asymptotes, piece-wise functions, and
transformation of graphs.

3.) Review calculus sections. Try to review the integrals, limits, fundamental theorem of calculus, and derivatives.

Just do 3 or 4 problems in each of these sections I mentioned. I promise it will make sense to you during your course in Calc 2.

 

[xcvxcvvc]

I have to agree with cjl. Calc 2 is a bit difficult because it is more involved and you have to go back and review all your trig. identities you've learned in trigonometry. Also, you have to remember the derivatives of the trig functions, but it should not be hard to remember if you know how to derive them.

So, here's what you should review:

1.) Trig. identities from trigonometry. (Trust me, it helps.)

2.) Review a bit of pre-calculus. For example, slant asymptotes, piece-wise functions, and
transformation of graphs.

3.) Review calculus sections. Try to review the integrals, limits, fundamental theorem of calculus, and derivatives.

Just do 3 or 4 problems in each of these sections I mentioned. I promise it will make sense to you during your course in Calc 2.

...
i'm not sure what math professor tries to test if you know calculus II by throwing in a problem that needs some random trig identity to solve. Then, he'd be testing your trigonometry instead of calculus II. Plus, it's common knowledge that precalculus has nothing to do with calculus.

Trust me, don't review anything this guy is saying to review. The class will move at a boring pace (if you found calculus I easy), and you'll have no problems learning anything thrown at you due to the outrageous amounts of time available to study.

I will say that the procedure of integration is different from the procedure of differentiation, though no harder. With differentiation, you just chug through it no matter what form the initial function is presented in (mostly). In calculus II, the hardest part is manipulating some function that seems to not fit any integral you know how to do into fitting the form of a function whose integral you do know how to do.

 

[kaos86]

...
i'm not sure what math professor tries to test if you know calculus II by throwing in a problem that needs some random trig identity to solve. Then, he'd be testing your trigonometry instead of calculus II. Plus, it's common knowledge that precalculus has nothing to do with calculus.

Trust me, don't review anything this guy is saying to review. The class will move at a boring pace (if you found calculus I easy), and you'll have no problems learning anything thrown at you due to the outrageous amounts of time available to study.

@xcvxcvvc, I had one tough professor. I seen this guy pulled tricks and more involved trig. problems with calculus. I'm just trying to help the topic starter prepare for anything that will be thrown at him depending what type of professor he/she is.

BTW, Calc 1 is easy, but Calc 2 is more involved.

 

[Animastryfe]

I used trigonometric identities often in calculus II. Some integrals could not be solved without them.

Edit: My professor's exams were difficult, but he sometimes gave us some of the identities.

 

[Chunkysalsa]

I still remember most of the trig identities. Only thing I really don't remember are sum/diff formulas and half angles. Thankfully the inside cover of my text has all of that in a nice easy to read matter.


Also I never did integration in calc1. It was a summer course with a slow professor. He had it on his syllabus but we never got to it.

 

[kaos86]

I still remember most of the trig identities. Only thing I really don't remember are sum/diff formulas and half angles. Thankfully the inside cover of my text has all of that in a nice easy to read matter.


Also I never did integration in calc1. It was a summer course with a slow professor. He had it on his syllabus but we never got to it.

Try to go over integration because it will be more involved in calc 2. Also, try to remember/derive the sum/diff formulas and half angles. Just in case. BTW, who's your professor and what college you go to?

 

[Academic]

In my experience, having taken the classes and tutoring them for a few years, calc 2 is harder than calc 1. Calc 2 and 3 seem to be equally difficult compared to calc 1.

 

[deadkitty]

I personally found calc 2 to much easier than calc 1. I really only had a little trouble with the visualization in 3-d to solve for volumes, but after a couple weeks it wasn't too bad. Calc 2 is easier because are not nearly as dramatically new concepts as in calc 1.

 

[Jack21222]

I found calc 2 to be much more difficult than calc 1, only because there was SO much memorization involved. The concepts were easy, but trying to memorize the list of common antiderivatives was hell.

I aced calc 1 and calc 3, but it took a hurculean effort to get a 90% in calc 2.

 

[gretun]

It depends on the instructor, some can make it deliberately difficult.

 

[Chunkysalsa]

I'm awful at memorization. Derivative formulas I learned through repetitive use except derivatives of trig functions. Didn't use them that often aside from Sin/Cos and ended up just deriving them when needed.

Instructor is supposed to be good.
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=1040172

compared to my calc 1
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=407868

 

[Jokerhelper]

I took Calc 1 and 2 last year, and I'd that general consensus in my class was that Calc 2 was a bit harder, though not by much. If you did fine in Calc 1, you'll be good in Calc 2.


Now that I think about it, I can't remember much of what we covered in Calc 2

 

[saim_]

techniques of integration can have much much harder problems than derivatives. you can almost always find derivatives using shear brute force with simpler, easier derivatives. that's not the case with integrals. you can't solve many of them unless you are just smart. If your class is more theory oriented you'll be fine, but, if its more applications oriented and you are required to learn to solve difficult problems, then, you'll find it much harder than calc1.

 

[eumyang]

I actually thought that Calc 2 was a little more difficult than Multi-variable Calc, because of that god****ed chapter on series. I thought that was the hardest chapter in the whole book. Maybe it was when I took calculus that was an issue -- I took the equivalent of Calc 1 and 2 in high school and Multi-variable Calc in college.


69

 

[GoldPheonix]

I personally didn't notice calculus getting difficult until calc III (although I took the AP calc BC exam, and so when I got into university, I hopped right into calc III). Infinite series I didn't really find difficult until you get having to prove convergence for more complicated sequences in real analysis.

 

[Acut]

I'd say about as easy as calc 1.

The good thing about calc 2 is that there are some problems in which you need to be creative - which is a positive thing, in my opinion. But there are many many more tedious, endless problems than those creative ones.

 

[hawkingfan]

Conceptually, it is just as easy as Calc I. Evaluating integrals is the toughest of them. (since a lot of algebraic and trigonometric tricks are involved most of which are not obvious) Everything else such as testing for the convergence of series, finding volumes or other integration applications are actually fun. The worst thing that can happen is that in doing these, you come across an integral that's difficult to solve. If one of the complicated integrals shows up in an applied problem, then the prof usually just asks you to set up the integral but do not evaluate. (giving you more point for the applied problem rather than the integration)