Class Content I  > Modeling with mathematics

2.1

The fact that we use math in science to model the physical world (and not just as a set of numbers and symbols to be manipulated) changes a lot. It makes the math carry meaning in a way it typically doesn't in a math course. It makes our equations a lot "richer" (i.e., "more complicated to interpret") than they are in math. Making our equations "physical" (as opposed to pure math) gives us some very powerful tools, such as dimensional analysis, scaling, and estimation, that allow us to use math more effectively.

Here are links to discussions of some of the most important issues.

• How math in science is different from math in math
• Measurement
• Dimensions and units
• Complex dimensions and dimensional analysis
• Changing units 
• Creating equations using dimensional analysis 
• Considering change 
• Symbols in science
• Scaling and functional dependence
• Estimation
• Useful numbers

Joe Redish 7/5/11