“Going out to the field is significantly better than hearing tales about it”

Recently I joined a math competition. Its called world mathematics invitational (wmi) and i think everyone should give it a try.

All my math teachers has always push me to join math competitions since i was young. Though back then i didn’t see the fun in it as i was a blind child. But after winning top 20 in sakamoto, i started joining math Olympiads. The thing about joining math olympiads is that you are exposed to a more difficult problems and pressured with time. It teaches you how to eliminate the options given to u to increase your guessing chances.

With challenging questions, you have to think outside the box and find different ways to solve even the simplest problems as mainstream methods thought at school will most likely not work. But most importantly it teaches you how to persevere. U lose once and you give up on it or u lose and get motivated to go again? Back then i would win a good amount of competitions but as i reached secondary school, of the three years I’m in secondary i have yet to win a competition. But this doesn’t demotivate me. It makes my want to strive further with an end goal of winning in these competitions.

But this blog isn’t about me telling a tale. But by going out there on your own, you get to experience it first hand. You learn the new methods and get a better understanding about concepts you think your amazing at. So go out there and join one or two as you never know what you will learn out there

“Doesn’t mean you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it can’t exist”

When I studied maths, I was never really motivated to actually study it because I never really thought it would be used in real life. This demotivated me to actually study and take interest in maths. And all it took was one teacher to open my eyes.

Architecture:

Although I am not an artistic person, there is no denying that one of the biggest use in geometry has to be architecture. As the architect have to be good at geometry and trigonometry. Distance, area and angle have to be his/her strong points as its their job to plan a settlement or an area where someone will be residing in or working in.

The picture above shows how an architect measure every bit of the house to get a house that they desire

Pilot:

Applications of math can often be found in physics which can also be found in engineering. Pilots needs to be smart in measuring the different forces that pushes the airplane to the unwanted direction. Only a strong push of wind is needed to push the plane off course. This is why auto pilots are programmed with the knowledge of trigonometry. This allows the AI to calculate the best course of action to it’s destination may it be tilting at an angle or going against the wind.

The picture shows the programming the AI goes through to calculate the best course of action.

Math can sometimes be not logical at first but don’t let that demotivate u to seeing the good side of math as it may just be what help you relax and sleep peacefully.

Photo sources

Blue prints pictures: https://www.google.co.id/search?q=blueprints&safe=strict&client=safari&hl=en-id&prmd=ivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOu8m6s_rgAhXMPI8KHc_TCcsQ_AUoAXoECA0QAQ#imgrc=lM8PgMZdZTs5KM

Cockpit control: https://www.google.co.id/search?q=plane+and+wind+speed+&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjxnP_ttfrgAhXD4nMBHZMoBZ0Q2-cCegQIABAC&oq=plane+and+wind+speed+&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-img.3..35i39j0i24.10071.11466..13686…0.0..0.153.761.6j2……0….1.6PHAKRc-Lcs&ei=_YCGXLGqLcPFz7sPk9GU6Ak&bih=553&biw=375&client=safari&prmd=inv&safe=strict&hl=en-id#imgrc=hXSDwemaJcnL5M

Learning involves making mistakes and learning to prevent them in the future. “History should be learned from, not repeated”

therefore this blog will be about the mistakes a lot of people (or at least i do) make that will make u go “whoops”

1. Sign manipulation

Math may be an easy topic to some people but even the smallest mistakes may be overlooked especially with the negative and positive signs. Even the most genius mathematicians can be fooled by simple algebra that is the change of signs. And this change of sign can really make a huge difference in the outcome. Especially when the weightage of that question is high

2. Over complicating things

Seeing a problem that you have been thought the advanced method at such a young age makes you want to try the advanced method. But why make yourself suffer the long way? Its wasting your time and effort when the simple way is also available. This problem is common among the advanced students and would usually result in a few marks lost. The best way is to know two methods of solving the questions and then use the two methods to make sure it is correct

3. Not drawing diagrams

People are generally lazy. How many times were you told to draw your models when you were young but was too lazy to draw it and then get it wrong. But after you draw the model you figure out how to do it. The same goes for geometry diagram or graphs. You couldn’t do the problem because you were too lazy to draw but once you draw it all the dots starts to connect.

These three mistakes are very common among math students and will make you lose the marks you deserve. That is why after the exam, spend some time to go through the test one by one to make sure you don’t gloss over these common mistakes. Because once you receive your test back and see you made the simplest mistakes you can make you probably will think to yourself “whoops”.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton