/sci/, I have been a nigger in school lately because I am sucking dick at math. I am going for compsci ( software ), and I just need to get through these hellish classes. Are there any protips from you gentlemen on how I can get through this crap? By the way, I am in pre-calc and I got a C in trig and I'm not even sure if I can pass this class the way things are looking.- I do most of the homework and tend to not have a problem while doing the homework, but the test seems to always have different crap that is similar but not enough for me to understand it. Also, are there any sites / resources to see application of this shit I am doing in class in software? I am sure I will be able to remember the stuff a lot better if I have the opportunity to write some code that has something to do with the shit. I am desparate /sci/, please halp me not be a nigger 8(. Problems in particular right now: Completing the Square / Factoring. Pic related, its a nigger in school.
If you can't do well in precalc/trig, Calc is going to be absolute hell for you. Maybe you aren't cut out for this?
>completing the square & factoringThis is 8th grade stuff..
Learn concepts, don't memorize how to solve problems...And math isn't for everyone, if you're not smart to begin with then you will have to work hard. That's fine until you reach university where hard work doesn't cut it anymore.
If you can't even complete the square, then you're not going to do well in Comp. Sci. Completing the square is stuff for 15 year-olds.Consider another major, or stop being so terrible.
>>510930 I seriously doubt it is an inability to do it, I am almost completely certain it is simply a lack of interest because I don't see the application. We spend hours trying to make equations more simple to the human brain ( simplifying / factoring / etc. ) even though I am going to deal with how to use this information with a computer? I just crave application so much and need to see some use of doing the shit I am doing, I think.
If you wanted to study computer science simply because you sit in front of one all day, you are making a mistake. It's like becoming gynecologist because you like looking at vaginas.
Find all Great Science Textbooks DVD Library and read EVERY book from arithmetic and calculus folders. Choose one easy to understand for you. Read it.Drop bad habit of relying on books that school give you.
Also, don't be fooled by how easy the programming classes at your high school are.
here you go
>>510983 I've taken 2 programming classes so far in college (VB.NET & C++ ), and got easy A's in both of them. I mean easy as in no studying whatsoever, because I had already done everything in the class by the first day. Programming just is really easy to me for some reason and so was math up until Trig where I spent a semester learning about stupid triangles etc.
>>511000 reminded me.OP, learn complex numbers. Manipulating with sinuses and cosinuses via complex numbers is MUCH easier, because instead of several dozens ad-hoc formulas you can use mostly addition, multiplication and couple of formulas to convert between complex numbers and sinuses/cosinuses(sin a = (e^ia - e^-ia))it's like finding derivative $x^x dx$ : if you know how to find $x^y dx dy [y=x]$ it's piece of cake. Otherwise you are fucked.
>By the way, I am in pre-calc>Problems in particular right now: Completing the Square / Factoring. >Completing the Square / Factoring is basic algebra.Well played, OP.
>>511215 Sadly, I am not a troll kind sir 8(. The teacher told us "The test I gave you was a test I give to algebra students, and you guys did worse than them.".>>510958 I am getting the books, and you also reminded me that I wanted to ask my trig teacher to recommend me a good book for pre-calc. He is a huge math wiz and probably knows of an actual readable book for pre-calc for me.
>Precalc>Factoring
Hey OP, if you want to get better at math for a compsci degree, you should do some graphics programming. Make a basic 3D engine, you'll soon see the need for trig and calc.
they teach math the worst possible way in high school in the us, it's almost complete rote memorization and stupid inter-mingling of concepts that will never exist in real life or in future maths. your best bet is to go to khanacademy.org and learn the material on your own.i'm currently planning on getting a phd in math, and this is someone who failed 9th grade geometry and got a c in algebra 2.
>Wants to do compsci>I just need to get through these hellish classesYou are aware that compsci is basically just the same shit but even harder?I would have thought the fact that you find the prerequisites to career are nightmare for you would have set off alarm bells about the career itself.
from my experience most people who get a math degree and go on to do research were shitty at math (except the 160+ iq people who were obviously identified at a young age etc). i don't have much experience with compsci though
>>510926Hey OP, I bet the nigger can factor a square.
>>511263I probably should have specifed factoring polynomials, the sad part being that I understand all the "new" material we have learned. But, in order to do that, I need to find the zero factors of a polynomial which I can't seem to ever be able to do on a test. ex: f(x) = x^3 + 8... >>511278 Maybe the reason I haven't seen it yet is that I have been lazy using OpenGL / Direct3d to do all the calculations for me? That sounds like an interesting idea and I will be sure to try it kind sir.
>>511331x^3 + 8 = 0 and solve for x, what's so hard?
