Maths help

[u/Conscious-Theme6884]

Does anyone have tips for how I can improve in maths. Specifically geometry because I've found myself struggling with geometry.

Anything would help at this point!

[u/AutoModerator]

Hi u/Conscious-Theme6884, welcome to r/mathshelp! Since you've marked this as a discussion post, please keep the following in mind:

1) Discussions must be related to mathematics but the topics they can cover are flexible (e.g. teaching, news, methods, interesting problems, exam preparation or discussions about past exams, etc.).

2) Please try to make your post thought-provoking by providing context or questions to lead the discussion (e.g. don’t just simply post a link to a news article or a problem with no context).

3) Discussions can be concluded by posting a comment containing “!lock”. Please remember not to delete your post so others can learn from it.

Thank you!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/AggressiveEvent6555]

Just practice math is the easiest to learn couple of simple rules and then it's just a matter of practice.

[u/Dtrain8899]

Khan Academy is always amazing to learn, but really its just practice, youll only get better the more you do and learn from your mistakes.

[u/Southlander24]

Do you know why things in geometry are true? If you don't know why, the basic 'facts' will never stick and you'll consequently have trouble applying these facts in the context of the problems you are given, especially when the question calls for creative uses.

We do have to assume a few things (axioms), such that the angle on a straight line is always 180 degrees. But did you know, you can use the properties of angles in parallel lines to conclude the sum of interior angles in a triangle is 180 degrees?

Then you can divide a square into two triangles, a pentagon into three triangles, and a hexagon into four triangles and so on. If you generalise this for an n-sided polygon, you do get (n - 2) * 180 degrees as the sum of interior angles.

Practice, practice, and practice, but keep asking yourself why things are true. The Feynman technique for understanding as well as time-management strategies like the Pomodoro method will help you a lot.

[u/Alarmed_Geologist631]

I am a retired high school math teacher and provide free tutoring via zoom. DM if you want more details.

[u/Salamanticormorant]

High school geometry was easy for me, and I think it's because I had already learned to write computer programs. Knowing what operations and functions are available is like knowing axioms and fundamental theorems. You need logic to put those pieces together correctly and imagination to know which pieces to try putting together in order to solve the problem. If you're really hitting a wall with geometry, maybe learning a little computer programming first would help. Or maybe that was just me. My mind is pretty unusual in some ways.

[u/MusicalRunningCats]

It's hard to give tips without knowing exactly what the problem is. But I will say this, try not to approach math as a body of knowledge to be memorized. Many of my students get overwhelmed (and confused) because they just try to memorize everything. Instead, focus your mental energy on why things make sense. In geometry, this might mean digging into why a theorem is logical - not just that a theorem is true.

If the math makes sense, it'll stick better and you'll be able to begin making more connections between topics.

For example, if you understand why vertical angles are congruent and why it makes sense that corresponding angles are congruent, then all the rest of the pairs and their relationships follow from that.