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/sci/ - Science & Math

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10216075 No.10216075 [Reply] [Original]

Who else is mathematically illiterate here? By that, I mean they are completely incapable of understanding the notations and logic.

The only thing I've ever understood intuitively is what it means to take a derivative in its most basic sense of finding the instantaneous rate of change at a given point. I cannot go beyond this to understand differential equations, and other fields of mathematics.

>> No.10216107

>>10216075
Some people can't even understand algebra, so that hardly counts as being mathematically illiterate. That said, it's pretty incomprehensible to me how someone could understand what a derivative is but not be able to understand what a differential equation is.

>> No.10216120

>>10216107
To make matters even worse I don't know when to integrate.

>> No.10216126

>>10216120
Well a differential equation is what you get when you have both a function and a derivative of the function in the same equation. Like f'(x) = f(x). There, now you know what a differential equation is.

>> No.10216132

>>10216126
Went straight through my head. Thanks anyway buddy.

If I had the logic to understand this stuff, I'd take it on with keen interest because I do think this stuff is interesting, it's just a pity I'm such a brainlet.

>> No.10216133

>>10216120
It might help to think of it like this, if you can put 2 things on a graph, like plot velocity and time, where the area means something, like velocity*time = distance, then you can integrate to get that area.

>> No.10216141

>>10216132
If that's the case, I doubt you actually know what a derivative is either, sorry anon

>> No.10216146

>>10216133
The way you worded it sounds funky to me I'm not sure if the reason I still don't understand it is because of that.

I couldn't even understand the most basic differential equation I was exposed to which was dy/dx = y

>> No.10216150

>>10216141
No, I truly understood the derivation of nx^n-1

I think of it in terms of driving in a car. It's directly applicable.

>> No.10216154

>>10216150
Well then, if your car was a self-driving one which was programmed so that its speed was determined by its position along a race track, so that the farther along it was the faster it went, its motion would be described by a differential equation.

>> No.10216194

I’m m in the same boat. Calc 3 is my limit. In calc 2 i’m Pretty sure the teacher game me a C out of pity, because I certainly didn’t understand much of it.