I really enjoy plug and chug, But I really dont care about where they got the formulas. Just give me the numbers and tell me to solve for X.
Math: What do you think is necessary in order to become good at math?
- Thread starter CincoDeMayo
- Start date
Quantum Mechanics is used in a vast number of areas.ostro-whiskey said:
TV screens wouldn't work without it. Nor would laser pointers.
Also, Einstein hated QM.
There's no way to make 1+1=3 without either a fallacy or using non-standard definitions.Batfred said:
By being a genius at maths (I have done tests that prove this). I hardly need to revise due to this. Integration at further maths level was still a *****. Glad I chose electronics instead of mathematics for uni, which brings me on to my little rant...CincoDeMayo said:
1. Quantum mechanics is basically about the behaviour of electrons and much of today's technology couldn't have existed without it, e.g. computers, so I wouldn't refer to it as 'bullshit' and is quite interesting if you actually try to understand it.ostro-whiskey said:
Website [http://www.4physics.com/phy_demo/QM_Article/article.html] about the impact quantum mechanics has had on the world and a short history of it.
Video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc] (presented in an easy to understand way) about the famous double slit experiment. (skip to the two minute mark if you already know how large waves and particles act going through slits)
2. Einstein was totally against quantum mechanics ("I, at any rate, am convinced that He [God] does not throw dice") and Hawking's fields are theoretical cosmology and quantum gravity, the latter of which just attempts to unite quantum and relativity to try to fill in the gaps we still have in our understanding of how the universe works, not adding anything to either the theories of relativity or quantum mechanics.
Don't worry, the quantum cavalry have arrived! [sub](that sounded as bad in real life as it did in my head)[/sub]-Zen- said:
I'm in business calculus right now. Failed it once because the professor liked to play games with it and thought we all loved math as much as he did. My current professor gets straight to the point. For me, clear outlines and steps help. I don't like being tossed a single formula and then being told "Go!"
How will a calculator make one better at maths?The DSM said:
If you don't understand how to solve a problem it doesn't matter if you have a calculator or not, does it?
Depends,
There are 2 different kinds of maths. There is the maths that you get taught at school in Physics etc. Which is remembering equations and when to apply them
Then there is the maths you get taught at university. Which is breaking everything down and building it all back up in a very thorough way that relies heavily on understanding. If you can't do this, you can't do it.
At least that's how I see it.
If you're doing the memory test kinda thing. Train your memory on other things. I found my Rubik's cube helped a lot for that kinda stuff. I don't really worry about remembering equations anymore.
Computers and only as good as the user.
There are 2 different kinds of maths. There is the maths that you get taught at school in Physics etc. Which is remembering equations and when to apply them
Then there is the maths you get taught at university. Which is breaking everything down and building it all back up in a very thorough way that relies heavily on understanding. If you can't do this, you can't do it.
At least that's how I see it.
If you're doing the memory test kinda thing. Train your memory on other things. I found my Rubik's cube helped a lot for that kinda stuff. I don't really worry about remembering equations anymore.
Oh and this is true.CincoDeMayo said:
Computers and only as good as the user.
It's interesting to see what people define as "Math", and how they term "being good" at it.
As someone who's taken math courses through high school, undergraduate, and postgraduate university, when one gets to a certain level, one sees that the most important things are the ability to think logically, and the ability to accept abstractions.
Math is not all about numbers: at a higher level, numbers are rarely used: they are just tools that can occasionally produce a useful result.
Math does not need applications: one method used in digital filter design (very important for use in all sorts of communications, not to mention audio) known as the 'remez' or 'minmax' method was developed in the 1920s, but an application was only found in the 1980s, 60 years later.
Logic systems based on nonmonotonic logic were designed in the late 1980s, and still have had very few practical applications (although it does provide a nice platform to understand how humans think).
Unfortunately, to cultivate interest, a combination of mental aptitude, teaching and support, and motivation is needed.
As someone who's taken math courses through high school, undergraduate, and postgraduate university, when one gets to a certain level, one sees that the most important things are the ability to think logically, and the ability to accept abstractions.
Math is not all about numbers: at a higher level, numbers are rarely used: they are just tools that can occasionally produce a useful result.
Math does not need applications: one method used in digital filter design (very important for use in all sorts of communications, not to mention audio) known as the 'remez' or 'minmax' method was developed in the 1920s, but an application was only found in the 1980s, 60 years later.
Logic systems based on nonmonotonic logic were designed in the late 1980s, and still have had very few practical applications (although it does provide a nice platform to understand how humans think).
Unfortunately, to cultivate interest, a combination of mental aptitude, teaching and support, and motivation is needed.
To an extent yes, but if you focus too hard on real world applications then that actually makes you an engineer, and engineers don't know math.CincoDeMayo said:
[/elitist math major crap]
But yeah, you just need to learn to like math and to think logically when you're younger. Unless someone has only recently started struggling in math, their struggles go a good way back into the past.
You have to actually like the subject and be interested in the learning, not just the subject itself. You need to be interested in working with numbers too. For example, I do Maths at university. Whenever I meet somebody new and they ask what I'm studying (since most of the people I meet are fellow students, that's one of the first questions asked), they always react the same way when I tell them. Generally they say stuff along the lines of 'oooh, that must be difficult' and so on. But if I was doing their courses, I'd find their work difficult. At A-Level I did English Literature for a year, then dropped it. That was because although I loved the literature aspect (I write creatively myself and I love stuff like Byron and Coleridge, the Romantics, Shakespeare, and so on), I couldn't handle the essays and stuff like that. But I was good at the numbers based subjects like maths because they're things I understand.
So to answer your question, OP, and this applies to any subject as well, to be good at something you need to be able to understand it and be able to cope with the work involved. I can't write essays, so no matter how much work I put in and no matter how much I love Shakespeare, I'll never be good at English Literature. Likewise, if you can't grasp the concept of infinity and realise that 0.999 recurring is equal to 1, or if you can't understand how that works, then no matter how much work you do you'll never be any good at Maths. That's all I can really say on the matter...
So to answer your question, OP, and this applies to any subject as well, to be good at something you need to be able to understand it and be able to cope with the work involved. I can't write essays, so no matter how much work I put in and no matter how much I love Shakespeare, I'll never be good at English Literature. Likewise, if you can't grasp the concept of infinity and realise that 0.999 recurring is equal to 1, or if you can't understand how that works, then no matter how much work you do you'll never be any good at Maths. That's all I can really say on the matter...
I have detailed course notes from uni, but 10 years ago makes these things fuzzy.Maze1125 said:
From memeory, you need to start by taking the square root of -1. This is called an imaginary number (as otherwise it is impossible to root -1) called z commonly. From there, you can take first principles of trigonometry to prove that z is real and therefore must be equal to -2. If -1=-2 then 1=2 and off you go.
Trust me, find some maths professor (I guarantee that a maths teacher any lower than university level will look at you like an idiot) and he will testify that this is true and may even fill in the trigonometry part for you.
Because not everyone is from Europe and uses the same terms. Expand your vision, and maybe even your math(s) will get better.Daystar Clarion said:
I assure you that, without some very odd change in definitions, no amount of trigonometry will make the square-root of -1 a real number.Batfred said:
I highly suspect that your professor was giving you all a fallacious proof on purpose and seeing if any of you would notice.
It has a lot to do with attitude and whether your teacher is great or plain bonkers.( My algebra teacher bit someone)
Not everyone uses the same terms but in the case of maths, it is wrong grammatically to say 'math' as 'mathmatics' is plural and last time I checked, abbreviating words doesn't allow you to change them from plural to singular.Captain Blackout said:
On topic: I thikn the best way to be good at maths (or anything else logical) is to know the basic principles because you can work out everything else from those. Also, your teacher helps a lot.
Laws of classical mechanics and quantum mechanics are closely related so long as they are limited to large systems. Its all thermo dynamics heat transfer bs.10BIT said: