"Mathy types" please explain.

[ChildofGrace]

Okay. I am not a mathy type. Received "A"s in high school maths, and even in College Algebra, but I went no further in that field.

So, I now have two Science/Math kids planning on entering medical studies in college and have a few questions with regard to upper level math.

First, could someone please have mercy on me and tell me the difference between Trigonometry and Calculus? Are these separate subjects, and, if so, should they be studied in a certain order?

Second, which maths would you suggest for students preparing for Pre-med and Physical Therapy?

Thanks in advance!

[Miss Sherry]

Perhaps you should talk to a guidance counselor from a college.

[kiana]

Pasting from the wikipedia page here:

Trigonometry (from Greek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language) trigōnon "triangle" + metron "measure")[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigonometry#cite_note-0) is a branch of mathematics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics) that deals with triangles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_(geometry)), particularly those plane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_(mathematics)) triangles in which one angle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle) has 90 degrees (right triangles). Trigonometry deals with relationships between the sides and the angles of triangles and with the trigonometric functions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigonometric_functions), which describe those relationships.

Calculus (Latin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin), calculus (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/en:calculus#Latin), a small stone used for counting) is a branch of mathematics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics) that includes the study of limits (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limit_(mathematics)), derivatives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative), integrals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integral), and infinite series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_series), and constitutes a major part of modern university education. Historically, it has been referred to as "the calculus of infinitesimals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinitesimal)", or "infinitesimal calculus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinitesimal_calculus)". Most basically, calculus is the study of change, in the same way that geometry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometry) is the study of space.

Generally, trigonometry comes before calculus because you can do calculus *with* trigonometric functions. If your children are doing a precalculus with trig course, a separate study of trigonometry is unnecessary. For pre-med and physical therapy, they should take mathematics every year of high school, and possibly retake it at university for a good grade record. It depends on the medical school, but your best bet is to take at least two semesters of calculus and one of stats if you're planning pre-med.

[ChildofGrace]

Thanks so much for this.

I have been planning on math each year, but was uncertain which courses to plan, so your input has really helped.

Thanks again!

[jellogirl]

Yup! Trig and Calc are two different things. But most books combine them. A good way to find out is looking at the entire scope and sequence of the publisher; some put trig with algebra 2, most with pre-calc.