Courses Would Calc 3 + Engineering Physics 1 be too much for Summer?

[in the rye]

Hey everyone,

I am currently in College Physics 1 right now, and Calculus 2. Both courses are going seemingly well. I have an 'A' in both classes, but I do devote a lot of time to studying. Between the two I probably put in about 20 hours/week depending on the material covered. Right now were covering applications to integrals in Calc 2, which I've been studying a lot less for. Maybe a couple hours a week.This is also my first time ever taking a physics course, so I'm by no means an expert with Physics. In fact, contrary. I make 1000 mistakes before working a problem correctly. But, I've been doing well in the class.

This Summer I am thinking about taking Calc. 3 with Engineering Physics 1. It's also worth noting our Summer semesters are 12 weeks vs 16 weeks, so they're still fairly long.

From our syllabus:

Calc 3 is:
A standard third course in calculus. Topics include polar coordinates and polar curves; vectors and analytical geometry in three dimensions; vector-valued functions and curvature; components of acceleration; functions of several variables; limits and continuity in three-space; partial and directional derivatives; gradients, tangent planes, and extreme of functions of two variables; multiple integrals in rectangular, polar, spherical, and cylindrical coordinates; applications of multiple integrals to area, volume, moments, centroids, and surface area.

EP1 is:
Fundamental principles of physics, using calculus, for science, computer science, and engineering majors; the principles and applications of classical mechanics, including harmonic motion, physical systems and thermodynamics; and emphasis on problem solving. Intended for majors in engineering, physics, chemistry, and mathematics.

The reason I want to do this is to take Statics in Fall. They only offer it in Fall Semesters, and I am at a community college right now. Next fall I won't be there anymore, so I want to get as much out of the way as I can.

Thanks.

 

[PhanthomJay]

Hey everyone,

I am currently in College Physics 1 right now, and Calculus 2. Both courses are going seemingly well. I have an 'A' in both classes, but I do devote a lot of time to studying. Between the two I probably put in about 20 hours/week depending on the material covered. Right now were covering applications to integrals in Calc 2, which I've been studying a lot less for. Maybe a couple hours a week.This is also my first time ever taking a physics course, so I'm by no means an expert with Physics. In fact, contrary. I make 1000 mistakes before working a problem correctly. But, I've been doing well in the class.

This Summer I am thinking about taking Calc. 3 with Engineering Physics 1. It's also worth noting our Summer semesters are 12 weeks vs 16 weeks, so they're still fairly long.

From our syllabus:

Calc 3 is:
A standard third course in calculus. Topics include polar coordinates and polar curves; vectors and analytical geometry in three dimensions; vector-valued functions and curvature; components of acceleration; functions of several variables; limits and continuity in three-space; partial and directional derivatives; gradients, tangent planes, and extreme of functions of two variables; multiple integrals in rectangular, polar, spherical, and cylindrical coordinates; applications of multiple integrals to area, volume, moments, centroids, and surface area.

EP1 is:
Fundamental principles of physics, using calculus, for science, computer science, and engineering majors; the principles and applications of classical mechanics, including harmonic motion, physical systems and thermodynamics; and emphasis on problem solving. Intended for majors in engineering, physics, chemistry, and mathematics.

The reason I want to do this is to take Statics in Fall. They only offer it in Fall Semesters, and I am at a community college right now. Next fall I won't be there anymore, so I want to get as much out of the way as I can.

Thanks.

I would think that with calc 2 and college physics 1 under your belt, that you could take Statics without taking engineering physics or calc 3. Is that a prerequisite? But at any rate, you probably could handle. Eng phy 1 over the summer, with a lot of hard work, and take calc 3 later in the Fall

 

[Choppy]

It's only two courses.

The summer courses to watch out for when doubling up are the ones that are condensed into six weeks or less - all day every day kind of thing. Twelve weeks, while more intense is not that unreasonable for two courses.

The main thing to consider is what you're going to be doing with the rest of your time. Are you planning on holding down a full time job over the summer in addition to these? Do you have other responsibilities to worry about?

 

[SteamKing]

You should be able to take statics having taken only a calculus I type course.

Calc III is a prerequisite for more advanced physics courses, like E & M or fluid dynamics.

 

[in the rye]

My school has Cal 3 and EP1 as pre-reqs for all engineering courses except intro. to engineering. This includes statics. Basically, getting these EP1 and Cal 3 out of the way opens all the engineering courses for fall, except those with pre-reqs in the engineering department. I won't be working, so it'll be the only two things I really have to focus on (apart from my relationship). Essentially it means that come Spring it'd push me to a Junior, rather than a Sophomore (it saves me about 1 full semester of money).

The Summer break would be nice with a lighter load to recoup before Fall, but saving money is nice, too. And I'm anxious to hit the core curriculum. The only thing that I feel like I'd change is maybe only taking EP1 this Summer, instead. I feel like that way I'd have more time to devote to EP1 and get a solid understanding of the basic mechanics with calculus. I'm sure I'd be able to do it with Cal 3, just not as much as I'd like. So it's really a matter of weight pros/cons. But, I'm sure that with all the engineering courses I'll be taking that EP1 concepts will be hit hard every semester, so that in-depthness might not be as required...

 

[ZapperZ]

1. Ask these questions to your academic advisor.

2. If you are taking both of these over the summer, it feels too heavy for me. I know that when I was in college, that would be too much to do. Maybe you're a genius and you could do it. But are you? Do you want to risk it?

Zz.