Exercise 3.

Explain how mathematics is used in the following areas. Answer in not more than
five (5) sentences.

1. Physics

Math is constantly used as a mathematical physicist as they use models and

equations to solve a variety of physics-related problems. Mathematical physics
refers to development of mathematical methods for application to problems in
physics. The Journal of Mathematical Physics defines the field as: "the
application of mathematics to problems in physics and the development of
mathematical methods suitable for such applications and for the formulation of
physical theories."

2. Chemistry

Mathematics is used widely in chemistry as well as all other sciences.

Mathematical calculations are absolutely necessary explore important
concepts in chemistry. Without some basic mathematics skills, these
calculations, and therefore chemistry itself, will be extremely difficult. However,
with a basic knowledge of some of the mathematics that will be used in your
chemistry course, you will be well prepared to deal with the concepts and
theories of chemistry.

3. Biology

Biology is not usually a science associated with mathematics but because there
are quantifiable aspects of life science, mathematics plays a critical role in
better understanding the natural world. Mathematical biology is a field of
research that examines mathematical representations of biological systems.
Imagine that you are a biologist studying butterfly migrations. You go into the
field and count a sample population in a confined region and then multiply your
sample numbers by the total geographical range to get a population estimate.
You then go back to your lab and review other researcher's reports of butterflies
over the span of their migration pattern and use vector calculations to predict
their future path. Finally, you examine previous years' data on the butterfly
numbers and location to establish a probable error margin for your prediction.
At every step of this process, you depend upon mathematics to measure,
predict, and understand natural phenomena.

4. Engineering
Mathematics is the background of every engineering fields. Together with
physics, mathematics has helped engineering develop. Without it, engineering
cannot evolve so fast we can see today. Without mathematics, engineering
cannot become so fascinating as it is now. Linear algebra, calculus, statistics,
differential equations and numerical analysis are taught as they are important to
understand many engineering subjects such as fluid mechanics, heat transfer,
electric circuits and mechanics of materials to name a few. Mathematics is the
background of every engineering fields. Together with physics, mathematics has
helped engineering develop. Without it, engineering cannot evolve so fast we
can see today. Without mathematics, engineering cannot become so
fascinating as it is now. Linear algebra, calculus, statistics, differential equations
and numerical analysis are taught as they are important to understand many
engineering subjects such as fluid mechanics, heat transfer, electric circuits and
mechanics of materials to name a few.

5. Linguistics

Mathematical linguistics is a field of scientific linguistic inquiry applying

mathematical methods and concepts to linguistic systems, to phenomena
observed in natural languages, or to the metatheory of models of grammars. Its
original sources lie in Europe, where philosophers and logicians were relatively
friendly toward ordinary language early in the 20th century. Later global
developments quickly increased the field’s diversity and created independent
research agendas on the complexity of computational processes, new ways to
model linguistic phenomena in richer or more flexible logical systems, and
mathematical characterizations of various notions of linguistic complexity.
Neighboring disciplines include not only the foundations of mathematics and
mathematical logic but also computational linguistics, philosophical logic,
knowledge representation as a branch of artificial intelligence, theoretical
computer science, and computational psychology. Mathematical linguistics has
initially served as a foundation for computational linguistics, though its research
agenda of designing machines to simulate natural language understanding is
clearly more applied.