Should i take trigonometry before calculus

What do you think about self-studying some trigonometry during my 4 week break, and then taking Trig and Precalc at the same time during my winter session? How much trig is needed to get through precalc? I do have interest in computer science, but more in the client-side development. No I have not taken a trig course before. And Yep that's what I'm thinking. If I can study enough trig to get myself through precalc, while actually taking trig over the winter to really get a solid foundation in it that might be good.

I'm just worried like I mean if I study say chapter out of 10 chapters in Trigonemetry is Chapter 2 in Precalc going to be touching on concepts of Chapter 9 of Trig? Looking at my pre-calc textbook I don't see trig covered until chapters 6, 7, and 8. Furthermore, looking at my trig book, I don't see anything else covered in here that isn't covered in my pre-calc book.

So essentially you could learn all of your trig from a pre-calc book which is what I did. But classes are kind of hard to get, and I'd much rather take precalc over the 6 week course than maybe not being able to get Calculus during the Fall and end up having to take Calculus over the 6 week course.

Plus, my counselor recommended me to be finished with Calc 2 by next Fall if I wanted to transfer. Studying these functions in geometric terms first, rather than from a purely analytic viewpoint, is much more intuitive. Trigonometry provides a host of functions which serve as nice examples for applications of calculus. BTW basic calculus is not easier than basic trigonometry because basic trigonometric essentially deals with algebraic properties of circular functions.

Calculus on the other hand is essentially non-algebraic in nature. Show 1 more comment. Active Oldest Votes. Noble Mushtak Noble Mushtak 17k 24 24 silver badges 39 39 bronze badges. We need to use our trig identities to make this easier:" Yes, but I do the same in algebra. I don't treat them like generic functions and I depend on their identities in both contexts. What did you mean by that? We do exactly that with pre-trig algebra. I'm probably biased here because I'm a high school student, so all of the calculus students I know are faster learners.

In any case, given that Calc I with trig functions is a whole course and that trig is a pretty big part of Calc I, I don't think Calc I without trig can become a whole course. I'm not a teacher, so I might be wrong about whether or not there could still be enough for a full course without trig, but I know that leaving trig out of calc would leave much curriculum out of the course. Add a comment. In some sense, the prerequisite for Calculus is to have an overall comfort with algebra, geometry, and trigonometry.

After all, each new topic in math builds on previous topics, which is why mastery at each stage is so important. Statistics does tend to be harder than calculus , especially at the advanced levels. If you take a beginning statistics course, there will be very simple concepts that are rather easy to work out and solve. Calculus is often thought of as the most difficult math because it can be rather abstract. Precalculus encompasses both trig and math analysis; therefore a precalculus course will cover more topics than just a trigonometry course alone.

Why is precalculus hard? By 12th grade, most students will have completed Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry, so high school seniors may want to focus on a higher level mathematics course such as Precalculus or Trigonometry. Students taking an advanced mathematics course will learn concepts like: Graphing exponential and logarithmic functions. Precalculus is fundamentally harder than Algebra II since it incorporates all the concepts previously learned in Algebra, Geometry, and Algebra II as well as including new, more challenging material.

Also what's the rush, you'll have plenty of time to take calc, no need to rush and screw up your grades. In general, trigonometry is taken as part of sophomore or junior year math. In addition to being offered as its own course, trigonometry is often incorporated as a unit or semester focus in other math courses.

Originally Answered: Why is it so hard to grasp the concepts of calculus? It's because the algebra and trig and geometry skills needed are not there. Brad Reichel. What comes first calculus or trigonometry? Is physics harder than calculus? No, Physics is definitely harder than calculus. Can I skip trigonometry? When should you take trigonometry? Why is trigonometry difficult? Is precalculus harder than calculus?

Can we learn calculus without Trigonometry? Are trig and algebra 2 the same? Can I go from Trig to Calculus? Is Calculus difficult to learn? Can I take Calculus without Pre-Calculus in college? Which is the most difficult subject in the world? Is physics harder than math? Do you need calculus to take physics?

Why is Calculus so hard?