In your experience, is E+M harder than dynamics?

[Eclair_de_XII]

Just curious on what everyone considers to be the harder calculus-based class in college.

 

[clope023]

Just curious on what everyone considers to be the harder calculus-based class in college.

They're about the same in terms of mathematical difficulty; E&M might have some specialized topics that are more conceptually difficult than those in Dynamics but the opposite can also be true.

 

[mpresic]

I found junior / senior level EM and graduate EM much harder than respective courses in classical dynamics. I found Freshman Sophomore EM only slightly more difficult than mechanics.

 

[TJGilb]

I agree with mpresic. I found dynamics to be far easier than 300 level E+M. Of course, having a strong understanding of multivariable vector calculus before heading into either class can mitigate the difficulty.

 

[symbolipoint]

In the less advanced two courses or the Fundamental courses of Mechanics and of Electricity & Magnetism for the science and engineering students, the calc based ones, ...
Absolutely without any doubt, the E & M course was far more difficult and confusing compared to the fundamental mechanics course.

 

[Randall Flagg]

I had an easier time with E&M (Griffiths) than with Mechanics (Taylor)...

...I had not even begun a differential equations course during my Mechanics semester, and was taking multivariable calculus with it, whereas both maths were in my repertoire for E&M. All things being equal? E&M would have probably been a hair more difficult, but based on my circumstance it wasn't close, in the other direction.

 

[Crush1986]

In my experience classical mechanics were way easier both in freshman and upper-division classes. Upperdivision E&M I was the only course in physics I didn't get an A in :(.