Algebra Homework

[BigKaboom2]

That's the weirdest post I've ever seen.

[K0beStar]

Wow me too i wrote something there but i dont know why it didnt show

[BigKaboom2]

It did show, but you quoted me as saying it.

EDIT: Also, this thread is officially deceased.

[K0beStar]

No i wrote something else besdies the big quote chain thing. I put like "Atleast someone else agrees with me that theres something wrong with that"

[BigKaboom2]

Yeah, it's inside the quote chain.

[K0beStar]

ok i found it

[bigh0rt]

Should've read 'in particular' -- funny that I didn't catch it even after re-reading it the first time. At any rate, this thread is funny.

[Lean]

I hope to see this in the Hardwood Classics soon.

[Joe']

Just proves once again how dumb and a waste of time HS in America are...

Damn, I'd just like you to come here: If High School is "easy and a waste of time" in America then we should create a new adjective to describe how "easier" it is here, lol.
Just a little thing for you to know is the fact that I usually have my book open during tests and the teachers don't fucking notice.
I don't have a "real" math class since November lol, every time I have a Math class me and my classmates just start playing with paper planes, the teacher gets annoyed and does nothing about it.

[Patr1ck]

Just a little thing for you to know is the fact that I usually have my book open during tests and the teachers don't fucking notice.

That reminds me of my spanish class when we had a test. I had my book standing up and open on my desk. When the teacher noticed it, I said it was to keep people from cheating off me, and he let me do it.

[shadowgrin]

This might be the dumbest thread in the history of NLSC.

And one of the funniest. It's funny because of the dumbness not only of the thread but also its creator.
Besides, nature abhors vacuum. When retards disappear/get banned, some will take its place.

These guys can help you.

What you know about math?

I find it funny how those guys love and depend on their calculators. Dependency on a calculator is stupid if you're a math beginner, it won't help you.
I still remember Calculus without it. Good crazy times.

then make incentive to learn on your own. The greatest teacher is yourself. I know when I had problems with math at one point, where I was seriously considering getting a tutor, I just went through examples in the textbook until one day it just clicked. Next thing you know, I was in math honors getting high 80's all throughout high school. If your teacher isn't willing to help, then try to learn on your own, because, imo, it's the best way to learn.

Read that again and again KobeStar so you'll motivate your sorry ass.
I was also similarly like that, abhoring Math in HS. Never in my dreams did I imagine that I would take up an engineering course.

[Gundy]

Wow, this thread made it to two pages.

I used to like math up until this year in which I am taking Pre-Calc. The only reason I am not doing well is because I had never seriously studied for a math test because I could get by because I understood it. That doesn't work anymore. Oh yeah, fuck parametric equations, fuck them to hell.

[ixcuincle]

and I used to like math until the teachers took away my precious graphing calculators and forced us to memorize hundreds and hundreds of formulas by memory instead of being able to write them on cards...

but back on topic algebra is easy it's calculus you should be worried about especially if you have the teachers that don't let you use formula sheets...good luck memorizing Simpson's rule!

[bigh0rt]

and I used to like math until the teachers took away my precious graphing calculators and forced us to memorize hundreds and hundreds of formulas by memory instead of being able to write them on cards...

but back on topic algebra is easy it's calculus you should be worried about especially if you have the teachers that don't let you use formula sheets...good luck memorizing Simpson's rule!

Integral approximation -- I know it well.

[shadowgrin]

teachers took away my precious graphing calculators and forced us to memorize hundreds and hundreds of formulas

You don't have to. Memorize the essential main ones or the source. Just derive the other formulas from there.

Simpson's rule!

Not that hard, imo. It's the graphing part that's hard.

[ixcuincle]

There were no "main ones"...to study for calculus you have to memorize not only the formulas but the multiple rules for derivative addition , subtraction , multiplication , division , integral addition / subtraction / multiplication / division , logarithmic addition / subtraction / division and so on. Now I haven't taken calculus in over 3 years , but I assure you this right now. It is impossible to know the division rule for derivatives without consulting a textbook. It would be easier if you were allowed to write these on paper instead of being forced to memorize pages and pages of these rules and formulas.

I took two integral calculus classes , one involved one at a major university where a professor bored me with a chalkboard filled with formulas and uninteresting lectures. Another was at a community college where the lectures were slightly more exciting and students worked together to solve problems. This was a more positive learning environment than the classical "sit here while teacher lectures students to near-boredom on boring topic"...eventually you just get fed up with all the math and memorization and that's why I quit engineering

[shadowgrin]

You didn't mention it was for Calculus.

Sadly yes, you are right, it's a bitch to memorize all those formulas especially those hyperbolic functions.

[ixcuincle]

I just realized Calculus wasn't as bad as Linear Algebra...that class was a nightmare. Eigenvalues are a bitch.

[shadowgrin]

I think it's time to stop recollecting about your math nightmares, I don't want you getting depressed or anything.

[Drex]

Oh man, if you think that's hard, try taking Algebra in another language. I'm taking them in Spanish

Calculus is easier than Algebra for me, it's not that hard to memorize all those formulas once you're used to using them.

[Lean]

I'm using Calculus to measure the distance I traveled from home to school.



I'm a liar.

[Cameron]

I've always been good at math. I just completed my first year of university calculus and did fairly well. I found high school math easy. That said, I don't think it's very fair at the amount of people throwing out obscure references and concepts, to show how hard the math they're doing is. Or to say "so and so class is easy; it's hard once you get to THIS". There's always something harder out there, and maybe a PHD student in math will look at a first year calc student complaining about like simpsons rule or multivariable equations and be like "oh that is so easy". Everyone has trouble at different stages, some earlier than others, and I don't think it's very helpful/nice to make them feel even worse by pointing out how much harder later on math is.

I'm just sayin.

[bigh0rt]

I've always been good at math. I just completed my first year of university calculus and did fairly well. I found high school math easy. That said, I don't think it's very fair at the amount of people throwing out obscure references and concepts, to show how hard the math they're doing is. Or to say "so and so class is easy; it's hard once you get to THIS". There's always something harder out there, and maybe a PHD student in math will look at a first year calc student complaining about like simpsons rule or multivariable equations and be like "oh that is so easy". Everyone has trouble at different stages, some earlier than others, and I don't think it's very helpful/nice to make them feel even worse by pointing out how much harder later on math is.

I'm just sayin.

You are absolutely correct. Though I don't think it's the pointing out the difficulty of advanced mathematics that is the problem as much as the manner in which many people do so. I danced through mathematics all the way through high school, which is why I decided I wanted to teach it. Some of the collegiate math I was forced to take while earning my degree almost turned me off from it completely -- that's how difficult and frustrating it was. I feel that's a valuable piece of information for people who say things like, "Math is soooooo e-z!!!" while not trying to belittle them by saying, "Your math level is so elementary. Wait until you take Geometric Topology or Graph Theory, then come talk to me!" Math is an incresingly difficult field the further you travel in it, and I only wish somebody would've warned me in advance; not that I wouldn't have pursued a career in it, but I certainly would've prepared myself a bit better.

[Cameron]

Exactly. But those are two separate things all together. If this was a "should I go into mathematics?" thread then sure, definitely warn people how hard it's going to get! And you'd be the perfect person to do so. However, this was a thread for someone asking for help with an algebra question... and having tutored math, it was no where near the stupidest question you're going to be asked... but it turned into basically a bragging rights for how hard of math people have done! It's kind of funny too, I mean if you had a 3rd grader asking you how to do a long division question, someone a bit older could go "long division? heck, I've done trinomial factoring!" but to anyone in this thread, that person would probably come off as arrogant and would look pretty silly as as we have exposed, trinomial factoring is not anything to be scared of. However, what people are doing here is the same thing, just offset a few years in the future.

Also, some people are better at things than others, I mean the guy asking the question could suck at math but be a whiz in biology, where people amazing at math could struggle. There's always going to be someone askings questions and always someone who is answering them.

I guess this bothers me so much is because if I wasn't going into medicine, I would be becoming a teacher, because I really enjoy teaching and helping people. To see people ridicule a question instead of just explaining it well, if they're so good at it, just tugs against my nature. At the end of the day, no one cares if I can set up my lagrange multipliers correctly. But people will care if I can help a person who struggles with numbers to learn their timetables. The guy came here asking for help because he respected people here as being smart. And instead of an answer (except for a few people) he just got people showing off to him how smart they are! Grow up.

[Cameron]

I just read through this thread a little more carefully, and I realize not everyone is doing this. I don't want everyone to think my rant is specifically pointed at them. Again though, it is OK to suggest the person going to their teacher for help (although I can relate to where he's coming from - I did not learn one thing from either of my [non-english speaking] calc profs this year) there are ways that the question could have been answered that would have actually been productive, without giving the answer. Walk him through it step by step so it can lead up to him getting the answer himself, and understanding why he is getting it.