Physics and Calculus not for Dummies

October 1, 2015 11:56 AM

What are the best resources for a crash course in Calculus and Physics?

Say someone is bright but has never been exposed to pre-calculus or trig and has a non related degree in education. Now we need to teach him enough back ground on calculus and college level physics to be able to successfully excel at non degree seeking courses on these subjects. How should we proceed? Any resources you have encountered that are phenomenal or just plain solid we should know about?

He is 35 and applying for a very competitive program and the only weakness in his application background are a desire (but not requirement ) for an undergraduate experience that includes a calculus and physics background.

posted by stormygrey to Education (11 answers total)

I would start with Khan Academy.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 12:10 PM on October 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

I wouldn't try jumping into Calculus without getting Trigonometry down and at least some PreCalculus. I personally found a 3 page fold out laminated reference guide (available at most bookstores) to be helpful. Most stores will probably have one for each subject, including Physics.
posted by soelo at 12:17 PM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

Precalculus mathematics in a nutshell...excellent book that covers all the basics without a lot of screwing around. Will get you firmly up to speed for calculus and physics within a week (google it for free pdf version...can't seem to link to it from my phone)
posted by sexyrobot at 1:16 PM on October 1, 2015

Wikipedia for drilling into various specific topics. It was priceless for my undergrad in Mechanical Engineering.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:19 PM on October 1, 2015

Schaum's Outlines were great for my MSME (Continuum Mechanics, Heat Transfer) and also for getting my wife through algebra and physics. They laid out the topics with an eye toward solving problems, then presented a bunch of problems to solve. For me, they were a good no-bullshit resource to help me understand WTH my primary texts were trying to say.
posted by disconnect at 1:37 PM on October 1, 2015

Paul's Notes for Calc! It saved my life in high school.
posted by hejrat at 3:11 PM on October 1, 2015

Measurement, by Paul Lockhart is an excellent read that builds up to the main ideas of calculus in a way that:
* may be more familiar in tone and more comfortable and interesting to those with a humanities background; and
* covers some of the subtle transitions in how to think about various mathematical concepts that tend to trip students up at transitional stages (algebra, trig, calculus).

I would recommend reading it, then taking a university course, eg. starting in the winter/spring semester.
posted by eviemath at 6:24 PM on October 1, 2015

Once, in a similar boat, I studied the math via Khan Academy -- with the end motivator/benchmark of passing CLEP's Calculus exam, which most schools seem to accept as credit equivalent to their own Calculus 101 coursework.

Then, I learned Physics I, II, and III from Dr. Lewin's archived MIT lectures.
posted by glibhamdreck at 5:18 AM on October 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Does he have little or no algebra? That's where to put the emphasis, n'thing Khan -- /r/math and /r/learnmath are excellent online communities with that exact focus if detail questions are needed. But from the discussions on those forums and experience it's time doing exercises.
posted by sammyo at 6:53 AM on October 2, 2015

Response by poster: He actually taught algebra to high school special ed students, but that was a while ago.

Thank you everyone do much, all of these are exactly the kind of resources I knew had to be out there!
posted by stormygrey at 8:11 AM on October 2, 2015

The legendary Feynman lectures are available online for free. If you like verbal explanations with character, you should have a read!
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 2:27 PM on October 2, 2015