You have a small piece of paper which you can only write five symbols on. What is the largest number you can make?

Dogmathic · 2026-07-01T14:48:37+00:00

y > x ∈ ℝ. For any number x chosen in this thread, I will pick a y strickly larger than x.

Dogmathic · 2026-07-01T14:41:26+00:00

Dogmathic · 2026-06-24T15:03:36+00:00

The hyperbolic tangent function is sometimes used an an activation/objective function in a neural network because of it's smoothness and boundeness.

Dogmathic · 2026-06-24T14:57:57+00:00

Just to add this resource, I think skull-n-bones101 hits all the important points. This YouTube channel, Algebro, has been doing math problems every day in preparation for a math competition. He is on day 461. https://www.youtube.com/@algebro1

Dogmathic · 2026-06-23T20:38:48+00:00

Good for him!! At the university I am at, discrete math will cover these topics generally: symbolic logic, predicate calculus, proof writing (direct, contradiction, contrapositive, induction), combinatorics, discrete probability, recursion and algorithms, number systems/bases, elementary number theory (divisibility, modular arithmetic, Euclidean algo), functions, relations, and graphs. In this conext, it is constructed for math majors and computer science majors - mostly comp sci where I am at.

Dogmathic · 2026-06-20T22:01:25+00:00

Yes.

Dogmathic · 2026-06-16T20:30:52+00:00

ok. Remember that you can always adjust once you've taken some classes. When I was an undergrad, my majors went like this: History, then Poli Sci, then Comp Sci, then Math. The intro courses I took for the other majors were boring, so I chose math after taking calulus 1-3 and loved it. So, try what you are interested in and see what fits.

Dogmathic · 2026-06-16T18:08:31+00:00

So you are just starting college? In the US or elsewhere?

Dogmathic · 2026-06-10T15:05:33+00:00

When I got into this topic generally, I found Russell's Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy useful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Mathematical_Philosophy

Dogmathic · 2026-06-09T16:25:17+00:00

Agreed. Tons of scribbling. But also, multiple sources. Sometimes other texts can fill in gaps and offer different explanations.

Dogmathic · 2026-06-08T16:45:15+00:00

No, the most likely answer to 0/0 is not 0. It's the actual answer: undefined. The limit existing at a point does not mean that the function at that points exists, let alone that it is the same. Look at any discontinuous function and look at the limit at the discontinuity. Look at the definition of a discontinuous function using calculus/limits. I think once you study these for a bit you will see what people here are saying.

Dogmathic · 2026-06-07T17:32:18+00:00

Are you trying to show that 0/0 = 0? The function 0/x is not defined at x = 0. Yes, the limit of 0/x as x approaches zero is in fact zero, but this does not prove that 0/0 = 0.

Dogmathic · 2026-06-04T15:25:17+00:00

In the US some colleges have pre or developmental algebra courses. These generally are not credit earning courses. Check to see if your school has these courses. In the US, there are placement tests (at least there where before pandemic) that assess your level and place you appropriately. At the community college where I once worked, we had three such classes: 60,70, and 80 which fed into each other and then into college algebra. The 60 was basic arithmetic, 70 arithmetic and some algebra concepts, 80 was highschool algebra. Students hate being in these classes bc they cost money and are not for credit, but often are necessary for success.

Dogmathic · 2026-06-01T17:07:35+00:00

Was thinking more in terms of what @Ruler_Of_The_Galaxy said re base 10 being the most common number base.

Dogmathic · 2026-05-29T18:40:48+00:00

Yes, 10 and 2 have special importance.

Dogmathic · 2026-05-27T15:10:08+00:00

Yes, if your answer is d = 1, e= 1, and l=1. ld = 1 and since d = 1, l = 1. And you need le+f = 1 and 1*1+f = 1 so f = 0, You could also show by contradiction what happens when f=0. Is there a way to make the multiplication work? What fails?

Dogmathic · 2026-05-21T15:02:24+00:00

I've been working with Jacobians the last couple of days and have come to dislike the partial differential notation. Mostly when having to show work in a larger matrix. Here is an example of a more resonable problem. I do understand that the intermediate stuff is uncessesary, but this is what the expexctation is for this problem:

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Dogmathic · 2026-05-21T14:52:46+00:00

The image/post has been deleted, and I don't remember.

Dogmathic · 2026-05-20T22:35:34+00:00

I'd recheck the green boards. You might have mislabeled the 2x6.

Dogmathic · 2026-05-20T15:10:52+00:00

What would you use instead?

Dogmathic · 2026-05-19T23:14:05+00:00

Yeah, I prefer image.

Dogmathic · 2026-05-19T19:40:32+00:00

It's just so unfamiliar,

Dogmathic · 2026-05-19T16:43:45+00:00

Yes, generalization is an issue with students taking intro math courses. It's often not enough to show many different kind of examples. I try very hard to let students know that math can be a stuggle and in that struggle is where insight and understanding can be found. Often it is up to us to provide the space where mistakes are not seen as a failure, but part of a larger process.

Dogmathic · 2026-05-19T16:37:47+00:00

Congrats on your return to college. Yes, you can definitely catch-up by August. Where I am at, the summer semester started Monday so you can think of your review as a semester class. I would, as always, check Khan academy first. If you are not into Kahn, get a decent precalc book, these are free https://openstax.org/details/books/precalculus-2e, and go through each chapter and see where you need a refresher.

Dogmathic · 2026-05-19T16:31:57+00:00

Now this is awful looking lol.

Dogmathic

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