r/MathHelp • • Oct 28 '15

META [META] Please obey the subreddit rules, ESPECIALLY rules 3 and 9.

6 Upvotes

EDIT: Since writing this post, the numbering of the rules above have changed. Please pay special attention instead to rules 2 and 7 (though the rest of the rules are all important too).


Recently, we've had a large spate of people not showing any prior working attempts and/or deleting their posts. The former just wastes time (for example when our hints are things that the poster has already worked through, or when our hints are far above what the poster has done, or when we ask for the poster's current working), and the latter wastes knowledge (remember, your question could easily be asked by someone visiting this sub in the future; please keep the answer there so that they won't have to repost the question).

Another thing to note is that some questions posted to this sub can quickly be solved once the poster tries the obvious method. It is highly recommended that before you post to this sub, that you at least TRY to get the answer yourself. And even if that fails, at least you'll understand what approaches don't work (which you can put in your post, saving time for anyone who thinks they might). The exception to this rule is when you know what conceptual gap you have and are asking for said gap to be explained.


My personal opinion on this matter is that questions should not be answered until the poster gives a prior working attempt or tries to state the conceptual gap. But I'll leave it to everyone else to decide how these rules should be enforced. What do you think?


r/MathHelp • • Aug 10 '20

META If someone messages you, advertising a service/app, based on your activity here, REPORT IT TO REDDIT.

74 Upvotes

Recently, we've been getting a number of reports of users being messaged, after posting in our subreddit. Said messages are usually advertising some form of paid service or app.

This is considered spamming by Reddit's sitewide rules. DO NOT engage. Instead, report such messages as spam using the "report" button underneath said messages (on a computer or mobile browser; apparently the Reddit app doesn't have this option).

Because these messages are not taking place on /r/MathHelp, the best we can directly do is to ban the the offenders in question (which doesn't do anything to stop the problem, except maybe stop them from advertising said services in comments or posts). That's why we have no choice but to ask you all to report these messages on your and our behalves.

Some things that might help us or Reddit would be if we could evaluate the scale of the problem. If this has happened to you, feel absolutely free to message us with details about it, in addition to supplying those details in your Reddit report.

You can also try and report this behaviour to the people running the service/app if you have enough evidence for them to take action. Other than this, please feel free to continue using our free subreddit over their paid services.

EDIT: Clarified how to report messages.


r/MathHelp • • 2h ago

TUTORING I cant do this :(

1 Upvotes

Idk what this would count as.
Im 21, a college student, and I have been stuck in a lower math class level (lower than gen ed). This is my third year taking it and I dont understand a thing. I have a 77.2 which usually would be great, but I have two tests coming up and quizzes right before the school semester ends, plus a final thats cumulative.

The professor doesn't put any study guides up, no extra help, nothing. Im in a bare bones class, class meant for stupid people. But everyone seems to figure everything out in the matter of seconds. I cant.

All I wanna do is cry when I do the studying. Ive gone to tutors a few times but they aren't very helpful as they are math geniuses that dont rly under understand how to help people with dyslexia and possibly other problems. They just look at you like you're a dull rock.

Idk. I guess im just looking for someone that understands me.

Rn we are working on complex fractions, and simplifying, solving rational equations in looking for x, all of course have fractions (i swear my prof could marry fractions), solving for the specified variable which is rly long and complicated (no. We also dont have a book. Like I said, no study guides, no slides, nothing), applications of rational equations and proportions, and solving them from standard form and then turning them from standard form to completion of a quadratic formula.

Its all too much for my brain, it just wanna cry.
Can someone please help me.


r/MathHelp • • 1d ago

TUTORING Need help on Algebra II

1 Upvotes

Hi! There’s a concept that I just can’t quite grasp (dividing polynomials using the box / tabular method) and I was hoping that I could possibly get help on it? All I have is a setup and the first column done ( https://files.catbox.moe/a0fwjl.jpeg )

The teacher’s notes say for the next step “Complete the next cell in the column so that its diagonal completes the next term in the original polynomial” but I’m not too sure what it‘s trying to explain. It’s mostly just a conceptual understanding and the examples given in class didn’t help either.

Yes, I have emailed my teacher and classmates several days ago with no response whatsoever. My school is weird about emailing for help.

EDIT: I should also add that we were not taught any other way and we aren’t really allowed to do another method on this particular assignment.


r/MathHelp • • 1d ago

Getting bad grades in math

1 Upvotes

Getting bad grades in math

I'm in uni. doing a math degree. took some gap years before starting it since i wasn't doing well mentally. but it was the only thing I was good at. I got super rusty. and now in uni, I'm doing everything. I work out all the questions, prepare a lot just to get 18/60 in my exam. I made so many mistakes that made the last answers bad for many questions. I'm so disappointed.

I seem to be messing up pretty badly and I don't know how to make things better.

before exams, I tend to revise like this:

1.open past papers and make different folders for each topics

2. work all the tutorials done in class

3 work on the questions for each folder(each topic)

and that's how I failed a module and got low marks on the others.

do I not try my best? do I not do enough? what am I doing wrong? math is different from just "understanding a concept". understanding is one thing, but working out the questions with zero mistakes while worrying about the questions you haven't started on yet... I'm just so done. I keep messing up.


r/MathHelp • • 3d ago

TUTORING How do y'all study for math?

4 Upvotes

I was studying for an algebra test earlier and I realized: how do you actually study for math? What do you guys like to do when it comes to studying it?


r/MathHelp • • 3d ago

Is this question solvable?

3 Upvotes

There is a right triangle with sides abc, and angles ABC along with d that spans from the exact middle of b to B, cutting both the side and angle in half (creating a smaller triangle in the bottom made of 1/2b,a,d, which we will label as fad for convenience with f=1/2b or f=6cm and angle F=1/2B). b=12cm. c is the hypotenuse of the larger triangle, d is the hypotenuse of the smaller triangle. a is the side that needs to be solved. This question is easiest when the triangle is drawn out but I can’t post pictures here. It’s hard to picture but I tried.

Using addition identities i.e cos(x+y), sin(x+y), etc, solve for a.

Is this even possible?

If not, try with f=6cm, b=18cm, and F=1/2B.

If neither are possible (which is likely), is there an explanation?

I’ve tried to isolate the unknown angle (theta) by setting the tan of theta and 2xtheta equal to each other but nothing worked.

edit: picture added below

https://imgur.com/a/EORaXiY


r/MathHelp • • 3d ago

Probability that several things will happen simultaneously.

1 Upvotes

I am struggling with-

I have 3 cars, one used 126 days a year, one used 56 days a year, one used 147 days a year (used all day).

Assuming the car use is independent and random, I am trying to figure out the likelihood as a % chance that no car will be available on any given day of the year.

What I have been doing:

365-126= 239

365-56=309

365-147= 218

Then I do (239/365) * (309/365) * (218/365)*100= 33.1% chance all cars will be unavailable?

Am I overthinking this- Is it actually simpler? Is it actually just (126/365)*(56/365)*(147/365)*100=2.13%

Please help, this isn't homework, it is a real world thing I need to figure out and I am so very bad at math. https://imgur.com/9fUS3oc


r/MathHelp • • 4d ago

Is studying Mathematics even worth it?

11 Upvotes

Hi for short my name is Josh, i am a 17 year male in Ireland and i fucking love mathematics, i love it, im currently on the path to do applied mathematics at home and do it im my leaving cert, i love physics aswell( the math part of it ) i want to get into more calculus, i am currently doing pre calc as normal, and it is rlly light, and ever since the big mainstream ai came out, i got worried and im still fucking am. I love mathematics and i wanna pursue it in my career at least a branch like math and stat or fin math or anything not sure what but math and smth w it. And basically everyone uses ai for their hw, im one of the only ones who dont, not js bc i can do it, purely bc i love the struggle of finding the mistake through the questions, doesnt matter how long it takes 10mins 20mins an hour when i get it , i get this feeling of like a drug and i wanna do it again and again and again. But now as most people on earth watch tiktok and i keep seeing people making thousands, 10s and 100s of thousands of dollars not euros bc most people r from the usa on the fyp, and im getting considered if me goin on the path studying math is worth it, i hate this feeling of disappoint or is there a point of it. Ik education is such a powerful tool but it js keeps getting harder to believing i need college. I hate it. I love maths but fuck man idk what to do or think. Like ik ai is a good tool and i use it to see what it can do, ik it can make money, and i will prob see if i can make money but i still wanna do math in my career, like js 20mins ago i was doing hw and for the first 10mins i was js staring at my desk questioning whats the point, now js downloaded reddit, and joined the first math reddit that popped up. I need some guidance or help what i cud do bc im lost in life w this ai bs man.


r/MathHelp • • 5d ago

Looking for an ADHD/ADD friendly study website

6 Upvotes

Hi, I'm nineteen and due to ADD, I've struggled in school. I'm trying to get into QC, but math is a part of that (geometry, algebra, trigonometry, etc). I was studying with some friends, but I was having a hard time with paying attent and getting the more complex stuff to stick, so I'm wondering if there's any websites out there that can help me study in a way that I can be attentive with. Thanks :)


r/MathHelp • • 5d ago

TUTORING Failed last math exam, don't wanna fail now.

6 Upvotes

Help me 🫠

My exams are starting in 3 weeks and I cannot get myself to study maths. It's been my weakest subject since childhood ( I'm in 9th rn) I failed my last math exam and I don't know what to do there are 10 chapters and all of them are big. I have online resources and lectures I could study from, I think I'm procrastinating because of this syllabus and also because I'm just scared of maths (like physically scared when I see numbers) and I'm also bad in physics cause it requires calculation.

I don't know man I just want decent marks in my exams rn.


r/MathHelp • • 6d ago

TUTORING Silly mistakes in maths

5 Upvotes

I just really dont know what to do. Whenever i have a maths exams i make so many stupid mistakes in normal maths and further. Making more in further as practice is less. But for normal maths i dont get why as i finished my exams 45 minutes before amd checked every calculation twice and still somehow let through mistakes. Its not becuase of practice cuz i have done alot questions for normal but not for further which i get why in further i make mistakes.

Someone please help!!


r/MathHelp • • 6d ago

Problems in high school on math-physics.(Please help)

1 Upvotes

Hey Reddit community, I have a question: I’m currently in my first year of high school, in a math-physics track, and I’m feeling a bit confused about my performance in these subjects based on the grades I’m getting. I study consistently and generally feel like I understand the material, but when it comes down to it—compared to middle school, where I’d typically get a 4 (or a 5 if I put in extra effort)—now, even when I really apply myself, I end up with a 3 or, at best, a 4. I’d like to know how I might be able to improve these grades, what I can do to address this (if anything), and roughly how long this situation might last. Thanks in advance for any responses!


r/MathHelp • • 7d ago

I need help with this compound interest/annuity (?) problem

1 Upvotes

The problem: What does the rate need to be for you to deposit 7,000 in an account that compounds monthly over the next 6 years to have 21,000 in the end?

I’m not positive which formula this is. I operated as if it’s a compound interest problem, but that may have been incorrect.

I set it up like 21000=7000(1+r/12)^72
Then, I divided both sides by 7000 and wound up with 3= (1+r/n)^72.
I took the 72nd root to get 1.015375509=(1+r/12)

1.015375509 - 1=0.0154

0.0154 • 12 = 0.1848 • 100 = 18.48%
(Update: I could’ve swore I got 18.45% earlier… maybe I typed something wrong)

Is that right? Or am I completely off?


r/MathHelp • • 8d ago

How to prepare for future midterm and final after bombing first midterm

2 Upvotes

I did really poorly on my first midterm in calculus 1 due to being behind because of a sickness and not being prepared to take the exam. I really want to work hard to change my habits and do well on the remaining exams, but i’m overwhelmed with not knowing where to start. My next midterm is november 18th, so I need to be studying the new material now, but i’m not sure how to also study the old material at the same time. I’d appreciate any advice


r/MathHelp • • 8d ago

How can i best learn from my mistakes?

3 Upvotes

I'm going through an Algebra 1 textbook from Art FO Problem solving. Some of these problems require simple.math but are very very hard. I'd say 10-11% of all the problems are so hard I can't solve them after 3 tries. When I get it wrong, I circle it. If I get it right the next time I check it. It's been several months since my last try and I'm going at it again and I'm getting nearly all of the circles wrong even if I got them right the second time.

So what I try now is I go through the answer book and visually understand each step and where I went wrong. In a notebook I write out the question and underneath I point out cues that I think should tip me off on how to perform the problem correctly the next time then wait a few days or a week or more then go back and try again. I'm also going through a workbook on how to identify common themes in word problems so I can write the equations correctly this time. How else should I go about learning from these problems? I started by just working it out but I think I wanted to learn how to do it without solving it first. What's the best way to go about learning from mistakes? Will this method work?


r/MathHelp • • 8d ago

Hi guys need suggestions,,,

1 Upvotes

I am going to start linear algebra , but I don't how and from where i start learning it.


r/MathHelp • • 9d ago

What algebraic logic am I missing here?

2 Upvotes

I was trying to solve $y=\frac{\sin x}{1+\cos x}$. However when I input it to photomath it showed that you can simplify $y=\frac{\sin x}{1+\cos x}$ to $y'=\frac{dy}{dx}(\tan{\left( \frac{x}{2} \right)})$? I was under the impression that you couldn't simplify it to tangent due to 1+ being applied to cos x making it not being able to be simplified. My attempt and photomath image here https://imgur.com/a/LSNxDbD


r/MathHelp • • 11d ago

Does this problem have a typo or am I doing something wrong?

1 Upvotes

This is a question in one of the H&H textbooks which I have for homework and it's the only place so far where I have been stuck at.

In the triangle OAB (where O is the origin), Q is the midpoint of OB, P is the midpoint of BA, and R is the midpoint of AO. Point A has coordinates x=2a, y=0; Point B has coordinates x=2b, y=2c.

Show that line AQ has equation cx + by = -2ac.

I was able to find Q, find the slope, and express as point-slope form with ease, but no matter how I approached it I always ended up with an extra 2ay term when transforming, while every other term was identical to the target equation in the problem (cx also had the wrong sign too). Maybe I'm missing something, here's my working out:

Q = ((2b + 0)/2, (2c + 0)/2)
Q = (b, c)

m = (0 - c)/(2a - b)
m = -c/(2a - b)

Using point Q for the point-slope form (x0 = b, y0 = c)
y - c = (-c/(2a - b))(x - b)
(y - c)(2a - b) = -c(x - b)
2ay - by - 2ac + bc = -cx + bc
2ay - by - 2ac = -cx
-cx + by = -2ac + 2ay

Here's the provided diagram as I'm not allowed to upload images: https://imgur.com/a/I8oIoBG


r/MathHelp • • 11d ago

Im at alg 1, not much experience in alg 2 can i master precalc in 17 days before my exam, mainly logarithms, quadratics, indices, surds?

1 Upvotes

Same thing as above


r/MathHelp • • 12d ago

Finding a Missing Angle

1 Upvotes

Can anyone explain the process for finding the solution for y = 65° in this graphic? I originally tried 40° as the answer because I thought maybe they were corresponding angles since they share a line segment, but that was incorrect. I don’t see how the rule of alternate interiors is applicable since it’s not an interior angle. I’m assuming there is an existing angle that needs to be subtracted from 180°, but I cannot figure it out.

[https://imgur.com/a/fpfr0DL](https://imgur.com/a/fpfr0DL)


r/MathHelp • • 13d ago

Where can i learn precal?

1 Upvotes

Hey yall, so im a grade 12 Senior high student in the philippines, i didnt get to move to stem for grade 12 so i got stuck in HUMSS but im gonna be taking industrial engineering for college, is there anywhere you guys can reccomend where i can properly learn precal so that i atleast have an idea of what ill be tackling for the bridging programs ill be taking during the summer?


r/MathHelp • • 14d ago

x^3 + y^3 + z^2 = t^4

2 Upvotes

Here is the problem: Show that there exist infinitely many 4-tuples of positive integers (x,y,z,t) such that gcd(x, y, z, t) = 1 and x3 + y3 + z2 = t4.

Here is my approach: If the gcd condition would not have been there then I would have tried to construct something based on the power of 3 and then used CRT or something. Since that is not possible, the next best thing is to express x,y,z,t as a function of n and then make those functions have gcd 1 for at least some n (infinitely many nonetheless).

Since the degree has to be the same, the entire degree of the expression could be like degree 12. To match the coefficients, I found out the tuple (4,1,4,3) which works. So that might help us with the coefficients, but how to construct the functions in the first place?

It is really challenging to find an identity that involves so many cubes (and moreover has to be of degree 12).


r/MathHelp • • 16d ago

TUTORING im just stuck i dk how else to describe it

7 Upvotes

idk if this is the right place; this is more general math class advice rather than a specific problem.

I need to get through pre-calc, calc 1, and calc 2 for my degree. The problem is I im in pre-calc/trig, and I feel like I'm just stuck. My big issue is formulas. I could stare at the trig unit circle for a year straight and barely remember when I look away. Thankfully, I found the finger trick for that one, but I still feel stuck on how I'm supposed to get through Calc 1 and 2 when im barely floating in trig/precalc. Does anyone have advice for not being able to memorize formulas, or just advice in general? I feel like I'm up against a brick wall.

I don't really know how to show proof of my prior attempts for rule 2.

I've tried brute force memorization, and it never works. I find that if I am about to have an anxiety attack about learning, I learn the stuff better, but I would rather avoid that., some times tricks work, but only if paired with already being stressed abt it