How is calculus applied in Architecture?

There are pretty heavy math requirements for this major, and I'm wondering why. When I took calculus in the past, I kept asking myself "what is this good for?". I'm trying to find a motive in order to be content using this subject.

Asked by Phez 42 months ago Similar questions: calculus applied Architecture Science > Math.

Not in the design... but in the engineering...and to be a good architect (and to pass your licensing exams) you have to understand the basics of engineering.

Engineering If you want to focus on the artsy side of Architecture, there's not much need for calculus. But on the engineering side, it's all math, which includes calculus. Let's say you want to maximize something in a building.It might be window size, or airyness, or minimum air duct space, or minimum heat loss.

Anytime you're going for a minimum or maximum, that's effectively finding where the function flattens out, slope is zero. That's differential calculus. If you need to figure out the total heat loss over a day with temperature swings, that's integral calculus.

Calculus has all sorts of applications in architecture... At the most basic level, calculus is used to calculate the area of an irregular shape or the volume of a solid surface. Both of these can readily be extended to the field of architecture: if you were to build a rectangular structure, calculating the square footage is a simple matter -- but if one or more of the walls are curved, for example, you'd need to use calculus to determine the area of the structure. You would also use calculus to figure out how much concrete would be needed to pour those curved walls... At the advanced level, calculus is essential for the engineering that goes into designing large structures.

Another simple example: Suppose you've designed a large structure that you want to support on a series of concrete columns. If you wanted to place the columns every ten feet, what diameter columns would you need to build to support the structure? How about if you wanted to place the columns every sixteen feet?

Now what size columns would you need? There are many more such examples, but those give you a taste of why you'll need some higher math.

Calculating forces Calculus is the basics of physics. All of the formulas in physics are really calculus formulas. The ones you learn in high school physics that don't use calculus are simplifications.

You can't just make buildings that look good. They've also got to stand up. You need to know the maximum force each material can take, and how much force you're actually putting on it.

Consider a really complex building, like the Sydney Opera House. It took years just to run all the math to figure out how the thing could be built. All those curves... that's all calculus.

Much of the time, you'll use standardized formulas, but you really need to understand where those formulas come from in order to know what their limits are. That means deriving them, and that means calculus.

1 Math is actually important for a lot of other subjects, but also keep in mind that important professions have a lot of "weeder" courses, to get rid of the people who aren't willing to put in the time and effort necessary. Nobody want's an unmotivated, undereducated person designing a bridge. If you care enough to take the hard courses, and if you're willing to learn what needs to be learned, then there's a better chance you're cut out to do a job where people's lives will be saved or lost depending on how well you do it.

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1 Math is actually important for a lot of other subjects, but also keep in mind that important professions have a lot of "weeder" courses, to get rid of the people who aren't willing to put in the time and effort necessary. Nobody want's an unmotivated, undereducated person designing a bridge. If you care enough to take the hard courses, and if you're willing to learn what needs to be learned, then there's a better chance you're cut out to do a job where people's lives will be saved or lost depending on how well you do it.

Math is actually important for a lot of other subjects, but also keep in mind that important professions have a lot of "weeder" courses, to get rid of the people who aren't willing to put in the time and effort necessary. Nobody want's an unmotivated, undereducated person designing a bridge. If you care enough to take the hard courses, and if you're willing to learn what needs to be learned, then there's a better chance you're cut out to do a job where people's lives will be saved or lost depending on how well you do it.

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