[DKYang]

I finished up Calc. I in summer and going to take II in fall. During summer, I heard Calc. II was the hardest out of the 3. I don't know anybody around me that took all 3 so I'm asking here.

So, which one do you think was the hardest out of the 3 and why?

Thanks.

[angelqian]

hmm... if memory serves correctly Calculus 1/A/L I think just covers basic integration and differentiation.
Calculus 2/B/M covers Series, Taylor's, convergence, yeah, that stuff.
Calculus 3/C/N I think would be multivariable then.

Yes, I can understand how Calculus 2 is the hardest, I thought it was as well. This is because Calc 2 is the hardest to grasp conceptually. They teach you a few basic forms, but sequences and series can get complicated very quickly. The calculations for approximating functions are tedious as well. Don't remember if you cover any transforms. Anyways, the reason those topics are difficult is because a lot of the math is way over your head (so the proofs are not rigorously covered). I took the honors course which covered Calc 2 and 3, and when doing the series stuff, the teacher would often times be like "Can't you see that you have to use ____ method to solve it? Just stare at it"... obviously, he assumes we're more intelligent than we are sometimes.

A lot of people think Calc 3 is easier because you can usually "see" what's going on there, you can visualize the stuff in 3D and that really helps in figuring stuff out, it becomes more a geometric problem than a purely mathematical one that requires one to "divine" the answer.

I hope this gives you somewhat of an idea of why people think 2 is harder.

[SereneKrn]

Calc 2, if you do the homework you should be able to grasp everything rather easily. Calc 3 is probably hardest, but it all depends on the professors too.

[birthdaycakes]

I thought calc III was the hardest. The math wasn't really terrible, but the concepts were hard for me to grasp....which, in turn made getting the math right difficult....x_x

I actually really enjoyed calc II. My school taught calc II + linear algebra in the same course, and I found both to be very straightforward.

[untungl]

I'm almost done with my Statistics degree and I can safely say that Calculus 1 was the most difficult for me. But once you get a good base of knowledge in Calc 1, 2 and 3 are a breeze.

Why? Because the most new stuff you learn will be in Calc 1.
Also, a lot of universities use Calc 1 as a weed out course, from what I hear. I took it in high school (along with calc 2, 3, and differential equations) so I wouldn't know first hand.

[taeee]

hrrrm at my school calc 1 is differentiation, calc 2 is integration and calc 3 is taylor series, convergence, and a bit of vectors and stuff. Of course these are in the single variable level. Of the three...calc 3 was the hardest... OOOOO taylor series...almost made me cry. HAHAHA LITERALLY

[awdark]

Truthfully nothing made sense after calculus 1. Calculus 2 I had this teacher who enjoyed telling stories and had any calculator and I think notes allowed tests. Calculus 3 I got a D once, second time I got a C or something... and to this day, I still have no idea what it was all about. Actually I don't even remember the point of calculus 1... See this is why I quit being an engineering major.

[Trungy]

I think people will all have different answers for that question.

I never really struggled with calculus, though if I had to say which calculus I struggled to learn the most in, it would be in calculus 3. It was mainly because my professor taught the basics of every subject, and then emphasized using the calculator to do everything (gosh, I still have programs on my TI-83 to calculate the dot product, cross product, angle between two lines, etc). I hated that class because it was the least intuitive learning I've ever endured for any of my math classes.

But otherwise, none of the three courses were too difficult for me. We didn't bother with proofs though. My calculus courses mainly dealt with how to use certain methods to solve a problem, and it was never tedious like a real math course would be. If anything, it gets tougher when you get past ordinary differential equations (which should be the next math course after calculus 2 or 3). Linear algebra was a pain in the butt because there was just so many different definitions to learn, and since I was lazy that semester, I didn't keep up (and thus getting the first B in a math course in my entire life).

[ChunJin]

Calculus III is the easiest. Your basics have been built up, the series are easy (just knowing what series to use is the trick). The vector stuff is really simple and a few things down the road.

However, depending how your mind works (building or destructing) Calc II or Calc I might be difficult or easier. I like puzzles, so Calculus II was a huge puzzle to me... and I thoroughly enjoyed it and did very well.

The trick is really be amazing/good at algebra (remembering a lot of the subtle rules) and being able to manipulate things into your favor. Common things in Calculus II is like you'll see a + 1 in the equation. Well, there's a lot of trig identities that can equal + 1. The basic of the basics is sin^2 + cos^2 = 1. So throw that sin^2 + cos^2 into it.

A lot of subtle tricks to Integration to make it easier. However, there is the table of integration =D but most professors won't allow that unless it's for the harder ones to integrate.

Calculus II requires a refined grasp of Algebra to really manipulate your equations (This is very common in Calc II - to manipulate equations). Without that refined grasp--Calculus II will be difficult. However, you can learn as you go (really difficult). That requires you do a crap load of problems so you can really grasp the patterns.


I think Calculus I was the hardest because it was something new; I look back and Calculus I is pretty easy but at the time it was hard because it was new. Calculus II can be very difficult if you have weak algebra skills, I thought it was much easier than Calc I to be honest. Calc III was the easiest.

[DKYang]

Ok, thanks for all your answers. I knew there would be different opinions, but that's why I asked. Now I know what Calc II and III are like, well, hopefully it's the same at my school. Keep them coming if you have an answer.

[marrymehyori]

I took five semesters of calculus

Of course it depends on what school you're at - calc 3 for me was vector calculus and was far more difficult than calc 1 or 2. 4 was differential equations, 5 was real analysis. It never gets easier, each one is harder than the last.

[trixtah]

I hope I'm not hijacking this thread but...I took Calc ABC in high school and accomplished only but the most mediocre of scores. In college, I took Calc A because my credits didn't transfer. Fast forward to today--my last Calculus course was one and a half years ago and I'm attempting Calc B in about 13 days. Should I just bend over and drop? Am I screwed?

[freezily]

well I'm taking Cal I next semester so when you guys say it's all new and the most difficult im really scared #__#
Still I guess i just have to try...what's Cal I about after all?

[ChunJin]

Yeah, Calc III is vector + series. Vectors is fairly easy, there's just a butt load of equations and proofs (that are easy to memorize). Then from there it's the diff eq, multivariable calculus, real world, linear algebra etc.

Question is -> Calc B, what does it cover? If it covers integration, you're fine -- very few things from differentiation stuff caries over to integration (other than a few things with the fundamental theorem of calculus [that integration & differentiation are the opposites of each other. Like multiplication and division, subtraction and addition).

Differentiation is Calculus I; it covers the ability to find tangents/points and the slope of any continuous function. It also deals with values that change. The very beginning of Calculus I is a bit ugly since it harvests some old Algebra techniques to solve problems. Things such as limits; you've covered them in Algebra II but not as in depth. However, once you pass all the "proofs" and get into the Calculus techniques it's a bit more clean and not as difficult.

Also, there's optimization/minimization problems with differentiation, finding minimums and maximums on slopes and other real world applications with it (as with any math ). Calculus I is really different, but it's nice.

[angelqian]

just be Asian and the math will come to you... I'm a bad person, I know.

[Raito!]

cal 2 should be the hardest cuz its a lot of memorization.

cal 3 is vectors and multivariable integration, theres not much difficulties in those but also memorization in series type question (ie:power series, taylor series).

[marrymehyori]

Yeah, Calc III is vector + series. Vectors is fairly easy, there's just a butt load of equations and proofs (that are easy to memorize). Then from there it's the diff eq, multivariable calculus, real world, linear algebra etc.

My experience was perhaps not quite standard - I had scored a 5 on the BC AP calc exam and started freshman year in college taking honors vector calc. I found it quite challenging, vastly more so than the AP class. Then again, the teacher I had for AP calc in high school was extremely good at what she did, while the professor for vector calc was very old school, writing with one hand, erasing with the other, he'd go through all the chalk boards in the room 3 or 4 times over each lecture period. I found it hard to keep up anyways, perhaps I'm just not as good at the memorization as others...

Although I did acceptably well in the class. It was differential equations that blew me away :-/

[one11.joh]

Calculus I would be the hardest. If you can do Calculus I then the rest is just like applying what you learned.
Are you engineering major?
Are you plan on taking ordinary differential equations (ODE)? or partial differential equations (PDE)?

[angelqian]

he'd really only take PDE's if he were a math major, PDE's appear in engineering stuff but usually only in specific cases.

[Lebanese_Blonde]

i didn't take the 3rd one but i can say that Calc I was easier than AP Calculus AB, my high school was DIFFICULT! sometimes they just pushed us too hard...