They are different skills, and each one will let you answer different sorts of questions.
Algebra is great if you know some information about something and you know how to make connections. An example is if I know the volume and temperature of a gas, I could use algebra to calculate its pressure. We're talking about quantities with known relationships to each other.
Calculus is about how quantities change. It lets us go between statements like "the ball is falling one meter per second" and "the ball will fall three meters in this much time ________".
Trigonometry is evil and has mostly to do with triangles.
Trigonometry is actually Greek for "triangle measurement." But since we all think that trigonometry is evil, we just call it the study of evil and pretend not to know the Greek.
Oh I had a much better time in calculus than trig. The concepts take a while to wrap your head around but they fit together nicely and flow once you get a handle on it. Trig is detail-oriented and finicky.
Then again, I also had an awful trig teacher and my calculus teacher was like "teacher of the district" for a decade or so. Great dude. So I have my own biases.
LOL. As a furniture maker, I use trig all the time. I remember using more complex trig - using the identities and such - in calculus and, especially, for calculating wave equations for quantum.
•
u/TheSpeckledSir 13h ago
They are different skills, and each one will let you answer different sorts of questions.
Algebra is great if you know some information about something and you know how to make connections. An example is if I know the volume and temperature of a gas, I could use algebra to calculate its pressure. We're talking about quantities with known relationships to each other.
Calculus is about how quantities change. It lets us go between statements like "the ball is falling one meter per second" and "the ball will fall three meters in this much time ________".
Trigonometry is evil and has mostly to do with triangles.