Mathematics

[boutboulman]

Well, I'm a mathematician. I thought we could have a nice little (but let's make it big) thread all about mathematics.
- Informal discussions,
- Informal teachings of higher beauty to newbies,
- Exchange of help and answers to tough questions,
- General chit chat about a cool subject and it's history,
- Anything else related :)

To start off I guess I can give a bit of background about myself: I study mathematics at a fairly good university. I've turned to the pure side of things, particularly algebra (which isn't high-school algebra btw, but groups, rings, fields, modules.. anything vaguely group related basically).
Without trying to show off too much - but at least a little bit - here is a list of university courses I have done over the last couple years (in a vaguely sensible listing), ie. what I might likely be able to help anyone in:
- Groups, Geometry & Groups
- Differential Equations, Vector Calculus, Dynamics (eek)
- Numbers and Sets, Set Theory and Logic
- Analysis I, Analysis II, Complex Analysis, Topics in Analysis (don't like analysis)
- Probability
- Special Relativity
- Vectors and Matrices, Linear Algebra (boring, but important)
- Methods (for like.. solving differential equations and stuff. Fourier transforms were cool)
- Electromagnetism (but not really)
- Groups, Rings and Modules (yay), Galois Theory (very hard), Representation/Character Theory
- Graph Theory
- Number Theory
- Algebraic Topology
- Coding and Crytography

So please, distract me from what I should be doing. Also may I politely ask that this thread not get hacked by post after post of "I hate maths/ I never got maths / I really hate maths" etc, etc. Post if interested, right?

Gotta love maths. (l)

[piroteki]

MATH?! GROSS.

don't have much to contribute. my brother's taking dif eq right now, though!

-edit- ok i'm just being annoying. follow the rules and don't complain about math!

[JPML014]

At least now I can get some help. I like mathematics but since my math teachers have always been real assholes, I've always found math to be... unenjoyable. But it's their fault. Anyways, you NEED math.

[Alex]

I have Social Sciences Applied Math in school now, which is pretty much statistics and economy.

Did the test today. Was crap.

[Steam Machine]

i hate maths:P

[CuBuLo]

Math is ok, I do well in it but its not my favorite subject.

[staceylala]

The only funny things about maths was my yr 10 teacher. He was... lets say he was slow.
Thought my name was Dave (mainly because we told him that) and spent the whole year calling me dave. We also used to lock our year 11 teacher out of the class, change the clock (everyone has done that though, we still do it actually in most lessons) hide people who didn't belong in the class under our desks, hide small pieces of meat around the classroom and generally misbehave... Still passed though, we could afford to piss around, we were in top set.

[Aimforthehead]

Ooh. I'm glad you made this thread.
I have to pick my classes soon for next year in high school (I'll be an 11th grader/a junior), and need to choose between taking AP Stats or Calculus. (AHHHH!)

From what my math teacher told me, it's better to take Calculus right after Trig, since the subjects are related. I just took Trig last semester, so she recommended me for AP Calculus (once again, AHHHH!) but I dunno...is Statistics easier? There were honestly a lot of things I never quite understood in Trig, and I don't know if I could handle a class like that in my junior year.

Probably going to take Stats first and Calc later, but, I wouldn't mind getting a second opinion..maybe of someone who knows about this stuff. :P

[Alex]

I dont know what do you Stats involve, but it seems much much easier than regular maths, which involve lots of equations and geometry.

But its your choice.

[piroteki]

Ooh. I'm glad you made this thread.
I have to pick my classes soon for next year in high school (I'll be an 11th grader/a junior), and need to choose between taking AP Stats or Calculus. (AHHHH!)

From what my math teacher told me, it's better to take Calculus right after Trig, since the subjects are related. I just took Trig last semester, so she recommended me for AP Calculus (once again, AHHHH!) but I dunno...is Statistics easier? There were honestly a lot of things I never quite understood in Trig, and I don't know if I could handle a class like that in my junior year.

Probably going to take Stats first and Calc later, but, I wouldn't mind getting a second opinion..maybe of someone who knows about this stuff. :P

i've never taken stats, but i'd say that i'd agree with your teacher and say go for Calculus, because if you wait until you have to take calculus in college (which i guess you might not have to do, but it's pretty likely that you'll have to take something like that) then you'll have forgotten some things from trig, which do end up showing up in calculus.

if you're intimidated about the AP part, see if your school offers a non-AP honors class or something. there are also two divisions when it comes to AP Calculus, so you can take AB and it won't be as hard as BC. at my high school, it was kind of different, and AP was kind of the standard, but i just took honors (aka "stupid calculus"), and that was ok. i kind of had difficulties, but that's because admittedly i didn't really pay attention in class or do a lot of my homework... :s but that was my fault for not doing what i should've and not because the subject was too hard.

i can't really speak much for stats, but i remember not being a big fan of the different probability and combinatorics or whatever it is that we did in my pre-cal class. so i wouldn't say that it's easier than calculus. it's just different. i also had to learn some stats for a biology lab once, and it was pretty confusing. t tests and chi square and all that. i didn't like it. but the way i learned is kind of different from learning it in an actual stat class, so maybe doing so would make it less confusing.

also, you may want to talk to the teacher(s?) who teach AP Cal about your concerns ask for a recommendation.

[boombagirl]

i used to hate maths. i must escape somewhere.

but i want to be a computer programmer. waa

[Aimforthehead]

Thanks for the advice! It helps a lot.
I have about a week to think about it/ask a teacher about it before I have to turn in the registration form, so..that's enough time to make the right decision. :P

[NightShark]

Hey I like Numbers. Just look at my signature. I'm only in Geometry right now. I must say it's not that bad but I could do without it. I have a B+ right now but am taking a test tomorrow and have a funny feeling I won't do so hot.

[piroteki]

Thanks for the advice! It helps a lot.
I have about a week to think about it/ask a teacher about it before I have to turn in the registration form, so..that's enough time to make the right decision. :P

oh! i forgot to mention, the Calculus AP tests are some of the notoriously most difficult of all of them. if you do decide to take the test, you're going to have to work really hard to get a 5. (French and Computer Science are other two nearly impossible-to-get-5s subjects.)

(but don't let that put you off too much! 3's and 4's are still good and will usually get you credit.)

[boutboulman]

I have to pick my classes soon for next year in high school (I'll be an 11th grader/a junior), and need to choose between taking AP Stats or Calculus. (AHHHH!)

From what my math teacher told me, it's better to take Calculus right after Trig, since the subjects are related. I just took Trig last semester, so she recommended me for AP Calculus (once again, AHHHH!) but I dunno...is Statistics easier? There were honestly a lot of things I never quite understood in Trig, and I don't know if I could handle a class like that in my junior year.

Probably going to take Stats first and Calc later, but, I wouldn't mind getting a second opinion..maybe of someone who knows about this stuff. :P


Take Calculus. Don't do statistics.
I can't say I understand I understand the american system, talk to piroteki about that. But in terms of mathematics, calculus is a much better option in my opinion. Statistics is obviously very close to maths, but... somehow it's not quite the same thing. I know for a fact in britain that too many students get put off maths by a stats project, when really the two don't belong together. Once you get to my level there are the mathematicians, and the statisticians, and they don't mix much.
Maybe, and that's a big maybe, you might like stats. But if you get any enjoyment out of math, stick with the math. I remember doing calculus in my first year of high school ("college" in britain) and it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. If you're ever around when I am go on chat and we can talk about it if you want. But yeah, I thoroughly recommend calculus as opposed to dirty statistics.
To say statistics is "easier".. I don't know, if you like it yeah, but if you don't it'll be terrible. Calculus, like most of the beautiful things in maths, are easy, once you get it! ;)

[boombagirl]

i just got 29 from maths

[Alex]

i just got 29 from maths

Out of how much? Beacue 29 is a terrible grade here.

[boombagirl]

i just got 29 from maths

Out of how much? Beacue 29 is a terrible grade here.


yes, it's ****ing terrible. i didn't say to my mom.

[piroteki]

i just got 29 from maths

Out of how much? Beacue 29 is a terrible grade here.


yes, it's ****ing terrible. i didn't say to my mom.

if it makes you feel better, i've gotten a 16 before. out of 100. on a test i actually studied for. :s (second semester Java... *shakes head*)

what kind of math are you studying?

[staceylala]

I failed a test I wasn't going to go to in the first place, There was a filming for the horrors new music video in (kinda of ) my area, was gonna go to that, but instead thought it best to go to my exam and effin failed them damn thing anyway ¬.¬

[NightShark]

Hey. Does any one know the answer to this question and could tell me the process of how you got the answer?
The area of a square garden is 50 m squared. How long is the diagonal?
a) 25 m
b)100 m
c)5 (radical symbol)6 m
d)10 m

[piroteki]

Hey. Does any one know the answer to this question and could tell me the process of how you got the answer?
The area of a square garden is 50 m squared. How long is the diagonal?
a) 25 m
b)100 m
c)5 (radical symbol)6 m
d)10 m

uh, i think i got it...

but you're not online anymore... and i'm kind of not confident enough in my math abilities to say that that my answer is definitely right...

if you come online again, i think can help you try to work through it, but the point of this thread certainly isn't just to give answers to homework problems and stuff, so it would more be like teaching you how to do the problem, not just showing you the answer and explaining the process.

send me a PM or something and i can help you with it. (unless you're on while boutboulman is, and in that case ask him.)

[Aimforthehead]

Hey, thanks for the awesome advice, bout! Very appreciative of it.
If I don't take calculus this next year (still undecided D:), I promise I'll take it the year after so I too will witness its amazing..ness. (:


(French and Computer Science are other two nearly impossible-to-get-5s subjects.)
So weird you mention that. French and computer science are two of my favorites! (Why do I have to like the hard stuff? Hah)

[piroteki]

(French and Computer Science are other two nearly impossible-to-get-5s subjects.)
So weird you mention that. French and computer science are two of my favorites! (Why do I have to like the hard stuff? Hah)

it's not that the subjects themselves are hard, just the AP tests for them tests. and even then i'm just talking about getting a 5. if you're aiming to pass (which should probably be plenty when it comes to trying to get college credit) it will probably be slightly easier to get a 3 or 4. or at least that's the way it was when i was taking them. (i took them in 2005 and 2006; but the ones i took were the English, History, and Art Studio ones.)

Computer Science i'm not entirely sure on any more, because i think there may have been two tests for that? but it's basically Java (and if i remember correctly with a focus on Object Oriented Programming... which is apparently harder than normal? i can't really comment, since that's the only way i've ever learned...)

French is just hard because you have to submit an oral portion which is apparently near-impossible to get a perfect on unless you are--unsurprisingly--a native speaker.

but i like French! (hahah i better... lol) and i liked [easy] comp sci, so it's all good.

[/off-topic academic discussion]

[boutboulman]

Hey, thanks for the awesome advice, bout! Very appreciative of it.
If I don't take calculus this next year (still undecided D:), I promise I'll take it the year after so I too will witness its amazing..ness. (:


It's a pretty fundamental part of mathematics really, especially analysis and applied mathematics, solving differential equations and all that jazz.
If there's request for it I can always write a vague primer on what one starts with in calculus. I find it easy now, but I remember the first time I saw it it was obviously not so much! :)


Object Oriented Programming... which is apparently harder than normal?

but i like French! (hahah i better... lol)

Yeah OOP is harder than normal - obvious in a way because it's an extra concept. But a hard concept in my opinion at that.

And yeah, you should. ^^