Hi there,

I'm registered to take Electromagnetics this upcoming fall, but haven't taken differential equations or other math courses in over 2 years. Which subjects/topics would benefit me the most to prepare for Electromagnetics?

 

Depends on the specifics of the course. Is this an introductory physics E&M course? If so, then a good review of integral and differential calculus should be sufficient as this course is at a level before Diffy-Q.

If it is an upper-level physics E&M course, then you need to seriously spend time reviewing vector calculus, including being very comfortable with div, grad, and curl operators as well as Stokes' and Green's theorems. You also want to be able to work in cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems as well as Cartesian.

If it is an EE E&M course, then I'm not too certain how deep it will get into the math, but I can pretty much guarantee that it will be intensive enough that you don't want to walk into it with stale math skills.

 

Hi there,

I'm registered to take Electromagnetics this upcoming fall, but haven't taken differential equations or other math courses in over 2 years. Which subjects/topics would benefit me the most to prepare for Electromagnetics?

Hello there,

If you have to ask the price you can't afford to eat there

See if you can find out what book(s) will be used for the course, which will usually be mentioned somewhere before the course begins. You can then peruse them to see what kind of math is going to be required. There are so many possibilities because there are a lot of ways of approaching these subjects mathematically, even the notation can vary. It's always good to be fluent in DE's but also ODE's if they work with circuits too. If the course is advanced enough, you may need some PDE experience but that will most likely show up in the books used in the course also.

You might mention where you intend to take this course, like what school.

 

You would probably benefit greatly from Walter Lewin’s e-mag lectures on YouTube. They are the intro course at MIT (8.02x), very lucid and cogent, it would be a great leg up and certainly show you what math you need. Because it is MIT, you can access the textbook online, here.

You might not even need the course at your own school—except for credit.

 

You would probably benefit greatly from Walter Lewin’s e-mag lectures on YouTube. They are the intro course at MIT (8.02x), very lucid and cogent, it would be a great leg up and certainly show you what math you need. Because it is MIT, you can access the textbook online, here.

You might not even need the course at your own school—except for credit.

Hello,

He makes some of the best videos on this stuff. He might be the only one (besides myself) that made a video that actually explains in minute detail how the Lorentz force works, not forgetting to mention ALL polarities. He uses the typical wire, magnet, and battery, the wire for the current of course, but i used a cathode ray scope for the current and with that there could be no mistake as to which way the current was 'flowing'. It also only takes a small magnetic field to deflect the beam rather than a 200 amp car battery to deflect a wire.
Many of the videos are so intent on showing the wire move that they forget to show the exact setup of the experiment, which needs vitally to show the polarities and the direction of current flow as well as which poles of the magnet are north and south.
I believe his video makes a similar mistake, but indirectly it is obvious whereas in the other videos there is no way to tell which is which unless you already knew how it works. It's funny too because many a video that attempts to show the workings of this don't actually show how it works.

I can't forget again to mention that a decent course on this stuff will almost certainly include Maxwells equations.

 

Hello,

He makes some of the best videos on this stuff. He might be the only one (besides myself) that made a video that actually explains in minute detail how the Lorentz force works, not forgetting to mention ALL polarities. He uses the typical wire, magnet, and battery, the wire for the current of course, but i used a cathode ray scope for the current and with that there could be no mistake as to which way the current was 'flowing'. It also only takes a small magnetic field to deflect the beam rather than a 200 amp car battery to deflect a wire.
Many of the videos are so intent on showing the wire move that they forget to show the exact setup of the experiment, which needs vitally to show the polarities and the direction of current flow as well as which poles of the magnet are north and south.
I believe his video makes a similar mistake, but indirectly it is obvious whereas in the other videos there is no way to tell which is which unless you already knew how it works. It's funny too because many a video that attempts to show the workings of this don't actually show how it works.

I can't forget again to mention that a decent course on this stuff will almost certainly include Maxwells equations.

I agree 100%
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/...ception-about-electricity.183285/post-1740976

 

Thank you everyone! This helps a lot, I appreciate it!