4 principal math subjects that biomedical engineering study

Math is important for biomedical engineering because it is the foundation of the field. Without math skills, biomedical engineers would not be able to understand and interpret scientific data, design experiments, or create models of biological systems.

Furthermore, math skills are essential for designing and conducting research in biomedical engineering. So in this post, we’re going to discover the 4 principal math subjects that you should be aware of before taking this major.

1 – Calculus 1

in your first year in biomedical engineering, you will need to study calculus. So you will begin with the calculus 1 course that includes:

  1. Limits and continuity
  2. Derivatives
  3. Integrals
  4. Analyzing functions
  5. Differential equations

In the calculus 1 classes, you will revise all the high school, math classes. In biomedical engineering, calculus 1 is very important to build a foundation for more advanced calculus classes like calculus 2 and 3.

1 – Limits and continuity

One of the first difficulties people encounter when they tackle calculus 1 is the first chapter which includes limits and continuity, which is the foundation of calculus. to understand well limits you will need a little bit of memorization and a lot of hard work, spending hours solving exercises to get used to.  which can present a challenge to students.

if you want to know more about 

But this subject just requires some practice then things become easy and acceptable with time.

2 – Derivatives

Derivatives come after limits which are so so interesting subject math you should take attention to it. Limits have a lot of sin real lives of biomedical engineers.

biomedical engineers can take a lot of specialization by taking a mechanical, electrical, or programming part of the industry.

In the other words, they can take a specialization in mechanical engineering designing medical devices for companies using CAD and other sketching programs. Or electrical design electronic circuits and program them to run robots. 

All these aspects need an interesting implementation of derivatives. 

3 – Integrals

Integrals in mathematics are a way of calculating the areas and surfaces is an important tool for mathematicians and scientists and can be used to calculate everything from the volume of a solid object to the speed of a moving object.

Normally, In calculus 1 integrals are not complex to digest, but if you miss them you will suffer for sure in the upcoming advanced calculus classes that we will take in this article.

5 – Differential equations

Differential equations are equations that involve the derivatives of one or multiple variable functions. Engineers use differential equations to model physical systems and to predict how those systems will behave over time. 

in differential equations you will be making complex differential equations that, being said, making a derivative of functions with 4 variables, like this one

f(x,y,z,t)  to make a derivative of this function you need to derivate a function 4 times. So it is a subject that has a lot of work, and the odds of making mistakes in exams are so higher, so it requires attention and more practice.

2 – Calculus 2

in calculus 2 you will use the all basics you have studied in calculus 1 and the precalculus course you’ve taken, but honesty calculus 2 doesn’t include new topics except you will go deeper about all calculus 1 subjects.

3 – Calculus 3

Calculus 3 is very hard because it is a more complex version of calculus. It includes more difficult concepts and formulas that students have to learn in order to be able to solve more complicated problems.

In addition calculus 3 involves many complex concepts that students must master in order to be able to solve difficult problems. which bases all on calculus 1 and calculus 2 subjects that we mentioned before.

These concepts include limits, derivatives, and integrals of complex functions, which can be quite challenging for students who are new to calculus.

In addition, calculus 3 often covers more advanced material you will not find in calculus 1 and 2, such as multivariable calculus which includes the heardest theorem you will study in the biomedical engineering college course.

 the same thing for calculus 3  you could read this article below 

Is calculus 3 hard?: all you need to know about

4 – linear algebra

Linear algebra is a type of math that helps you solve problems using lines and equations. Linear algebra is the study of equations that are linear. For instance, these equations are written in the form below.

ax +b = c 

Linear algebra can be used to solve problems in physics and engineering. For example, engineers use linear algebra to calculate the stresses on a bridge.

Linear algebra is not hard harder as much is calculus but it still has some hard subjects such as:

  • eigenvalues and eigenvectors
  • axioms
  • change of basics
  • Jordan canonical forms

Conclusion

biomedical engineering is the same as or engineering field, it is heavy in math. So if you have a weak foundation in math biomedical engineering will be hard for you.

But if you love to follow this major you can prepare for it. the principal thing you should do in biomedical engineering is to learn and improve your level in calculus.

in order to do that we wrote a guideline article, you should follow if you have trouble in calculus, you can find it below.

if you need to know more about biomedical engineering you could watch this video.

yassin.ajanif

Yassin ajanif is a physics graduate and electromechanical engineer width more than 5 years in the field. My goal and my team are to share our experience to help you succeed in your career as a stem major. we talk about all tips, problems, and struggle STEM students face in their career and how to overcome them.