Poll: how many people use claculus at work?

Question

no, not algebra, calculus.

Answer 1

i do. but...in reality, the software programs i use do all the hard work for me.

Answer 2

You use calculus all the time, moving your hand, catching a ball, driving a car.  Our brains (and those of most other animals) are analog computers that have been highly optimized to solve certain differential (well, integral really) equations.  Flying squirrels, for instance, solve a minimization problem to find the flight path from tree to tree that minimizes time in air (which is when they are most vulnerable to owls).  The result is they fly a path which is something called the brachistochrone, rather than a straight line, to minimize flight time rather than flight distance.  Dolphins and bats solve very complicated echo-location equations.

Everyone uses calculus, it just gets done automatically so we forget (or maybe don't know) that is what is going on.

Answer 3

I am a RN and I don't use calculus.

Answer 4

I used calculus at work to model the performance of ocean oil tankers in loaded and ballast conditions. I took my data from actual ship logs and voyage records.  I used calculus to determine the economical operating speeds of ships as a function of fuel costs, type of engine operating efficiencies and different ship drafts under different loaded or ballasted conditions. I also optimized veritically integrated oilco logistics and refinery system operations with worldwide scope. My company was ahead of the game when Chevron acquired my company in fear of the vulture-capitalist named T Boone Pickens(He's now after water rights in Texas hoping to follow Enron intentions) I studied calculus in highschool but it was taken up several notches when I went to MIT and we used calculus and computers to model and solve all kinds of problems in all the science subjects I ever studied. I studied Chemical Engineering which relies on calculus and algebra too.

Good Q

Answer 5

Once upon a time you could say that just about any engineer, statistician, surveyor, or scientist uses calculus.  And all still do of course, but rather than scratching things out on paper, they run programs to crunch the equations.

Answer 6

If you are an engineer, a physicist, or a scientist, a statistician, it might happen.

Otherwise,  it is not used often.