5 Minutes To A Better Math Grade (2021)

Mathematics - the bane of every sensible American. There is no beauty, no art, in mathematics. Two plus two does not speak to the soul. Neither do quadratic equations unlock the mysteries of the universe.

Or do they? Back in Ancient times, there was a man named Archimedes. He was an astronomer and mathematician of highest repute. He was also an inventor. But he loved his mathematics.

One, day the Roman army sieged his walled home of Syracuse. To defend his beloved city, Archimedes constructed what is now knows as The Claw of Archimedes .

This invention would today be known as a ship destroyer. Safe from the inside of the city, this construction could sink entire Roman ships. Archimedes was a man much revered for his intelligence and industry, and when the Romans eventually did capture the city of Syracuse, it was demanded that Archimedes remain alive and taken into Roman custody.

Alas it was not to be. According to legend, a Roman soldier found Archimedes at his mathematical work. The soldier demanded that Archimedes come with him and the mathematician merely replied "Do not disturb my circles"

Archimedes did not survive the siege. This is a sobering reminder that genius can create brilliance and value, but often the sword speaks louder than screws.

But why tell this story? This story is a reminder that math has beauty and math has value. The stories of famed mathematicians are full of intrigue and the human spirit.

Sadly, for most, mathematics has been reduced to a recitation of formulae and a deciphering of word problems.

Let us now get to how to get better math grades.  First, know that math is a way of compressing information in a symbolic and more precise way. This is done, not only to save paper, but to build a system of computation and logic. This system of computation and logic is the language of mathematics- it is how math is expressed and how new math is discovered

Let us take the simple 1 + 1 = 2. This means, in more verbose terms, "when applying the addition operation to two terms, one and one, the result of the operation is two." But that is a lot of words, and you can hardly build upon such a lengthy description.  So, instead, we simply write the equation, and leave it to the reader to understand what it actually means.

Math is hyper shorthand for certain types of computation. That is a major focus of public school's teaching of mathematics. They are teaching you shorthand, and it will be up to you to decipher the meaning of the shorthand.

Let us move on to word problems. The following will be our example:

"Sally writes. She usually completes an average of 300 words in an hour.  If she maintains this rate, how long will it take for her to finish a 5000 word essay?"

This word problem can simply be solved by doing 5000 divided by 300 to get the total number of hours it takes to write the essay.  All math problems follow this structure: you are expected to decipher what individual values mean, and then, from the values given, using common sense and some math knowledge, determine another value.

It is no different than x + 3 = 5; what is x? except it is dressed in practical terms, and you must churn it through the mathematical symbolism to derive an answer.

I sincerely wish you the best in your academic journey. Math can be stressful, but trust me, with a little careful thinking, it can be made much, much simpler. 

It is as easy as pi ;)