A sharing on how to change Mathematics from MESS to MATHS Toby Lau Do you like Mathematics?

When you see that the Mathematics Regular test or examination is coming, what will you do? Revise for it? Ignore it because you think no matter how hard you revise, you still cannot score higher? Or you just write a new status on your timeline to tell your friends how you dislike this subject? A few weeks ago, someone told me on Facebook that he thinks Mathematics is not practical except the operators + - , also, he said that Mathematics is a subject that has a lot to remember and understand, and the theories are very complicated. For those who do not like Mathematics, do you feel the same way? Here, I would like to share with you how to learn Mathematics in another way so that you will no longer think Mathematics is something scary or alien. Key ingredient in learning Mathematics: Be Proactive When you attend Mathematics lessons, have you ever thought that your teacher cannot present the ideas to you clearly or Mathematics lesson is the most boring lesson? In fact, we have to take initiative in learning Mathematics. Teachers are guides to help us to explore and understand the Mathematical World. We have to find our own way to by using the guides from the teachers. Here are some ways to be proactive in learning Mathematics. When you encounter problems or got stuck while you are doing exercises, why not consider consulting your teachers or abler students in the class? The topics in Mathematics are closely related to one another, if students do not consult their teachers when they got a problem, then the problems will be accumulated. Later, the students may find that they do not understand the following topics and get demoralized. Ultimately they may end up giving up this subject. In fact, you can present your ideas to your teachers or classmates so that they can spot out the logic error in your calculations. Also, learn to use the solutions provided, when you dont know how to solve a question, you may look at the numerical answer first, and then work backward to get to know how the problem can be solved, this is not a kind of cheating but do not over use this method. This method can let you know how this type of questions can be solved next time and learn the quicker way to solve the same problem. Besides, while you are working out the solution, in every step, ask yourself the following question:

Why am I using this method in this step? If you cannot answer this question at a particular step, then you may get into the wrong track and you should review to the steps you have written. After you completed your questions, you can also find an abler student in the class or your teachers to present the way you solve it, this is a way to test your understanding to the question. When I face a difficult question, what should I do? Other than being proactive, did you sometimes find the following equation true? Difficulty of the Mathematics problems in the textbook 100000 =Difficulty of the Mathematics problems appear in tests and examinations In fact, that leads to the second tips I would like to share to you, that is, to think positively. By thinking positive, you can let yourself to have a clear mind to decide which formula you should use and how to present your work to solve for the solutions. However, if you find a question is difficult, and you start panicking after you read the question, that will not help you to arrive the answers even though you have revised for everything as your brain is confused and worried. Some of the students may found themselves they should have known how to do the question after going through the solutions. Thats the importance of having a clear mind when tackling Mathematics problem. You may ask, should I give up when I face a difficult question? Sometimes, when you face difficult problems, and you found that those formulas you have revised cannot help you to tackle the problem, you may consider using the answers you worked out in the previous parts of the question to help you. If this technique still does not work, you may try to answer other questions first as you may get hints from them. When you have finished other questions and return to the difficult question, let yourself to understand the question once again and try to set some variables to guide you to think. If you still cannot arrive at the answer or figure out a way to tackle the problem, then you may consider giving up this question. However, this cannot be considered as a failure because you gave it a try and we should be realistic about that. Take this as a learning opportunity and you may try to refer to some reference books later to help you to solve that.

Lets see the two examples below to find out how you can use the methods just discussed to help you to arrive at the answer. Junior Form Example: Consider the line graph and pie chart below

January

February

March

April

Chart 1: No. of Patrons Passed through the Library entry gates (Jan April)

January April 80o 120o February March

Chart 2: Proportion of patrons passed through the entry gates (Jan - April) We know that the number of patrons passed through the library entry gates in January, February, March and April are 8 thousand, 6 thousand, 10 thousand and k thousand respectively. (The values of obtained from the counters installed on the entry gates.) (a) Find k. (b) Find the total number of patrons passed through the library entrance gates from January to April.

(c) The number of patrons passed through the entry gates in March is more than that in January. A library staff claims that more people entered the library in March than in January, but the librarian thinks that there may be a chance that the actual number of unique patrons entered the library in March to be less than that in January. Suggest a reason for the Librarian. Solution: (Explanations in the brackets are answers to the question Why am I using this method in this step?) (a) We can find out k by using the ratios.
Number of People Passed through the entry gates in January Value of degree comprised in the pie chart

= =

Number of People Passed through the entry gates in April Value of degree comprised in the pie chart

8 80
o

120o k = 12

There were 12 thousand patrons passed though the library entry gates in April. (To find out the value of k, we first have to understand that the degree comprised of a particular month in the pie chart is proportional to the value shown in the line graph. Then, we can solve the problem using ratios of two months.) (b) From (a), number of People Passed through the entry gates is 12 thousand, which comprises 120o in the pie chart Hence, the total number of people passed through the entry gates from January to April is,
12 120o

x 360o = 36

There were 36 thousand patrons passed though the library entry gates from January to April. (The reason of multiplying the ratio in April by 360o is that, the sum of values of the whole pie chart should be equal to the number of patrons passed through the library entry gates from January to April. Hence, we can find out the whole image by just multiplying the ratio of a particular month by 360o to arrive at the answer.) Before we move on to talk about part c, we have to know that nowadays Mathematics is more than just calculating and to arrive at the correct answer, we have to present out ideas to some of the image reflected from the graphs and data

by logical thinking and use the reasons to support our view and idea. It is important for us to develop this technique as this can really help in Statistics. (c) We are required to give a reason to the Librarian in which he thinks that the number of people entered the library in March may not more than that in January. You have to ask yourself why the number of people entered the library can be less than that in January in which it seems to contradict (does not match) with the image of the graph. Here is a suggested answer. Suggested Answer: There maybe some patrons who entered the library more than once in March, since the value in the line graph only represents the sum of values of the counters installed on the entry gates, in which it only counts the number of people passed through the gates, but not the number of unique people entered the library. So, there may be a chance for the number of unique people entered the library in March to be less than that in February. Now, try to think of other answers to support the Librarians view, by trial and error, you can eventually arrive at a different answer. Senior Form Example: Given:
sin x sin y

= 3 and

cos x cos y

1 2

, find

sin 2x sin 2y

cos 2x cos 2y

Solution: (Explanations in the brackets are answers to the question Why am I using this method in this step?) Step 1: Apply the knowledge that we know (Trigonometric identities) We know that sin 2x = 2 sin x cos x. Likewise, sin 2y = 2 sin y cos y. Also, cos 2x = cos2(x) - sin2(x) = 2 cos2(x) 1. Likewise, cos 2y = cos2(y) - sin2(y) = 2 cos2(y) 1 (By finding out the alternative form on sin 2x and cos 2x, it will be easier for us to substitute the ratio of sin x : sin y, cos x : cos y, and the values of sin2x and cos2x back to the equations to find out the ultimate answer.)

Step 2: Using the information obtained

sin x sin y cos x cos y

= 3 sin x = 3 sin y. =
1 2

2 cos x = cos y

(This can help us to find out the ratio of sin x : sin y and cos x : cos y, and we can make use the ratio to find sin2x and cos2x, which are the two values we have to find out in order to get the values of cos 2x and cos 2y.) Step 3: Try to solve the problem with information we obtained in previous steps As we got the ratio of sin x : sin y from the information given in the problem, then sin x = 9 sin y and cos x =
2 2 2

cos2y 4

. (Find out the value of sin2x and cos2x for use of

solving cos 2x and cos 2y later on)

cos2y 4

Now, as you know, sin x + cos x = 1, then 9 sin y + (Applying the trigonometric identities) Apply sin2y + cos2y = 1 this time,

=1

36 sin2y + cos2y = 4

36 sin2y + cos2y = 4 36 sin2y + (1 sin2y) = 4 35 sin2y = 3 sin2y =

2

3 35

(Using the previous step to find out the value of sin x by using the trigonometric identities again)
8

Afterwards, we can use the similar method to work out cos2x which is

35

(Using the previous step to find out the value of cos2x by using the trigonometric identities again) Step 3: Find out the ultimate answer Since we know that sin x = 3 sin y and 2 cos x = cos y, hence,
sin 2x sin 2y

cos 2x cos 2y

2 sin x cos x 2 sin y cos y

8

2 cos2 x - 1 1 - 2 sin2 y

2 (3 sin y)(cos x) 2 sin y (2 cos x)

2 (35) - 1 1 2 (35)
3

49 58

(Apply the ratio of sin x : sin y and cos x : cos y we found in Step 2, and values of sin2x and cos2x we found in Step 3 back to the expanded form of sin2x, sin 2y, cos 2x and cos 2y we found in step 1, and the solution is obtained.) Mathematics can be a kind of languages For those who excel in languages, why not treat mathematics as a language too? You may think that it is impossible to link Mathematics to languages, but did you know that Mathematics can be considered as a universal language? Wherever you are, there is Mathematics, and we can use the Mathematical language to communicate with anyone. Also, did you notice that there are many similarities between languages and Mathematics? Take English Language as an example; we use letters to form words, likewise, we have 0-9 to form numbers in Mathematics. We use words and punctuations in writing sentences and essays to show our view; in Mathematics, we use numbers and operators (i.e. + - , or more advanced: * , , and ) to write up equations and formulas to present our ideas. There are also some rules in both languages and Mathematics, we have grammar rules in languages; and in Mathematics, we have theories, formula and specific logics. Besides, Mathematics borrowed some of the terms from English, which will not be a hard task for you to study Mathematics if your language skills are good. Just like languages, if you keep on practice using it in your daily life, ultimately, you will not be fear of the Mathematical language and can use it to present ideas clearly. In addition, some researchers nowadays started to think about why we use a specific Chinese character to represent a particular concept in Mathematics. They analyze through the history of that character and its real meaning. They also tried to use words with similar meaning to replace the original one. So, if you are good in languages and Mathematical concepts, maybe one day you can think of a more precise wording to describe the mathematical facts. * Meaning of the operators: = Intersection = Union = Integral Sign = Summation sign Last word on attitude to learn Mathematics There is no definite way to learn Mathematics; in fact, you can develop your own system on studying this subject. So students, next time when you face Mathematics problems, do not hesitate; give them a try, and try to experience how

the logics and theories in the Mathematical World have influenced our life and how they can be used to help us in our daily life. There are still a lot for us to explore in the Mathematical World. Last but not least, hope that all of you can have fun and enjoy learning Mathematics.