Expert: Jeanette A - 10/18/2009

Question
uses of engineering mathametics-1 in civil engineering

Answer
Hello Abi,

Mathematics is a very fundamental subject in civil engineering. Without this foundation you will struggle in later subjects. Having a sound knowledge of maths and physics is integral to being a civil engineer.

Maths is used in all types of engineering such as trigonometry for angles for structures. calculus, complex numbers, statistics all areas off maths are used also in gas laws for finding the volume off gasses and force on a beam all sorts.

You need calculus and trigonometry and basic mathematical knowledge also.The most useful maths skill in engineering is knowing how and where to approximate and how to estimate answers to check the detailed calcualtion is correct as these days most computations are done by the use of complex software.

Depending on which university you attend is how the course will differ. I am a UTS student and maths 1 includess:

" Understand the relevance of mathematics to engineering science and practice; understand the way in which mathematics can supply useful tools and resources to model real world problems; use mathematical terminology and concepts; use formal and informal language to demonstrate understanding of these concepts; demonstrate a high level of skill in the computational techniques of the subject; demonstrate understanding of the theoretical results which justify the use of these techniques; communicate the above knowledge clearly, logically and critically; use the computer algebra system Mathematica to perform calculations and explore mathematical ideas relevant to the subject content; be able to apply the subject matter covered in lectures, tutorials and assignments to previously unseen problems; and be aware of the historical context of mathematical development. Topics include: presentation of a collection of physical problems; functions and their relationship to measurement and the interpretation of physical results; differentiability; differential equations arising from physical problems; solution by series; growth and decay problems; oscillatory motion; trigonometric functions and inverse trigonometric functions; integration; the logarithm function; inverse functions; methods of integration; and introduction to nonlinear oscillations. The computer algebra system Mathematica is used throughout the subject as an aid to computation, graph plotting and visualisation."

Hope this helped!

Regards,
Jeanette