Math

[The Wandering Scholar]

(which I once stole to do my homework from - copying was a lot more enjoyable ).

[Quirinus]

I used to hate the fact that, in the highest stream of our education system, I always had teachers who would only tell you when to do something, not why you did it. That always frustrated me, because to grasp the theory I feel that you should know why you do everything in math.

Exactly! Me too.... similarly, I like science, but I do hate how they teach it in school. They never tell you why differentiation is like that, or why there is a tricuspid valve in the right ventricle but only a bicuspid vavle in the left.

I rather enjoyed statistics and probability though. Those two topics were the only ones I enjoyed in Maths.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Yeah, just as I began to master this stuff (Algebra).... they toss all new stuff and me, and I can't learn some of it worth a dang

[Viking]

They never tell you why differentiation is like that, or why there is a tricuspid valve in the right ventricle but only a bicuspid vavle in the left.

Well, let's say you wanted to differentiate f (x) =(2X+1)^5 without using any of the easy and straight forward rules.


It should go like this

ΔY = (2(ΔX+X)+1)^5 -(2X+1)^5

f ' (x) =

lim (ΔY/ΔX)
ΔX --> 0


have fun.



hint: it'll take some time.

[LittleGrizzly]

I think I've done that, or started on the basics of it...

f (x)

is that a function of x ?

ΔY = (2(ΔX+X)+1)^5 -(2X+1)^5

is that x's relation to y ?

and whats this lim all about.... i think i understand most of that... don't think we've got that far in my maths work yet...

and well were on the subject anyone now where i can get the basics of motion under air resistance...

[edyzmedieval]

I used to be really good in math up until the 6th grade, when I changed school and I suddenly came on a ***** (not the B word, it's nicer; and she actually was like that!) which would only do like super heavy duty exercises which only like 10 people out of 30 would do.

[Viking]

I think I've done that, or started on the basics of it...

f (x)

is that a function of x ?

ΔY = (2(ΔX+X)+1)^5 -(2X+1)^5

is that x's relation to y ?

and whats this lim all about.... i think i understand most of that... don't think we've got that far in my maths work yet...

and well were on the subject anyone now where i can get the basics of motion under air resistance...

Yes, f (X) is function of X.


if f (X) = 2X^2 then f (2) = 2*2^2

i.e. f (X) is another way to write Y.


lim is what Y value we are approaching when X is approaching a certain value.

lim 2X = 6
X-->3


Δ means change, ΔY thus means the change in the Y value.

so when you calculate ΔY/ΔX you'll get how much Y goes up per X value (there is a much nicer term for this..).

If the function is meter on the on Y axis and seconds on the X axis, the derivative can tell you the speed at any give point in the graph:

m/s


Edit: If you should really try differentiation, then do not use the first function I mentioned since it is hopeless to differentiate. Differentiating X should be more fun.

[TevashSzat]

Well, let's say you wanted to differentiate f (x) =(2X+1)^5 without using any of the easy and straight forward rules.


It should go like this

ΔY = (2(ΔX+X)+1)^5 -(2X+1)^5

f ' (x) =

lim (ΔY/ΔX)
ΔX --> 0


have fun.



hint: it'll take some time.

Bah!, Definition of a derivative is easy to do, definition of an integral is hard

limit Σ[i=1->n] f(ci)Δx
(n->oo)

where xi-1≤ci≤xi

[naut]

Calculus is awesome!

[Rhyfelwyr]

Most boring, painful subject in the world.

I was good at it up until the Scottish Higher level, that's basically English A-level, no idea for the US.

Higher maths took up a lot of my time.

Finished with it for life now though.