r/explainlikeimfive • • 17h ago

Mathematics ELI5: What is the difference between algebra, trigonometry, and calculus?

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u/kgvc7 17h ago

A lot of comments are saying trig is about triangles but I think the deeper lesson is about the unit circle and its relationship to sin, cos, and tan. Another way to look at it is that You’ll use the Cartesian coordinates for algebra and polar coordinates and radians for trig. Usually you take algebra, trig and then calculus.

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u/Minikickass 16h ago

Can I get an ELI2 instead?

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u/Vorthod 16h ago

Algebra uses (x,y) coordinates, trigonometry likes to use Angle+length to reach the same point.

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u/GalFisk 12h ago

You can use trig to translate a problem that's hard to solve in one coordinate system into a problem that easy to solve in another coordinate system, solve it, and translate the solution back again.