How can I do math? How can I visualize/see it better in my head and even on paper? I've struggled with math my whole life and I think the problem is I don't grasp the abstraction. I struggle with basic arithmetic and maybe even counting/assigning numerical values to things. I have things like the multiplication table memorized because I'm supposed to but I'm not assigning the numerical values to the numbers. That feels like a different part of my brain compared to the rote memorization and it feels impossible to access. Something that made multiplication easier to grasp for me was when I realized it meant it was the first number duplicated as many times as the second number. The word duplicate made me see it how everyone sees it I think, because I couldn't understand the phrase "multiplied by." I wish someone could explain all of math to me this way.I try to practice it a lot too, I stop to do math whenever I see it but it doesn't make me any better. When I see something like 18-9 I can't do it in my head and I have to take out a pencil and paper to do it. When I do math I do it like how I was taught to do it in school so that's why I need to stack them on top of each other and draw the line underneath and carry the one etc. I don't understand how people who are good at math can see 18-9 and just know what the answer is immediately. I don't think they have it memorized but they are doing something in their head that I'm not. Pic related is me unironically. When this happens the thing I have to do is draw 18 circles and then cross 9 then count the remaining circles.
>>34525148Insert apples into every problem.Not 2 + 2 = ?But actually picture two apples and then another two apples, and count the apples.
>>34525148I really wish I could help you more than I can on a single thread, but despite what you've been told, you're actually doing fine getting an intuitive grasp on math through the systems that help you. What people are doing in their head is arithmetic, which is taking these concepts and abstracting them to deducible rules.Let's take an example, 18-10, you know it's 8 intuitively because the 1s in decimal places "cancel out". To explain the cancelling out, essentially:18 = 10 + 8 = 8 + 1018 - 10 = 8 + 10 - 1018 - 10 = 8You can do this with any decimal place, and if it doesn't line up perfectly, you have to "carry over" numbers:11 - 2 = 10 + 1 - 2 = 10 + 0 - 1 (you can't take any more from the rightmost digit, so:) = 10 - 1 = 9
>>34525148I don't know what is "normal", but every operation of addition and multiplication should be in the head. Just learn them with anki cards or whatever. If you see 18-9 you can just switch it to:18-9=x | +99+x=18So you just have to learn that. And if you know the basic multiplication table you will know that 9 is half of 18, because 9 times 2 is 18. I think no one thinks of 18 individuals objects, of which 9 get deleted. People just learned that shit in their heads when they were younger and its just an instant reply without thinking in most cases. 18-9 itself would have to make me think for a short time, but 9+x=18 would be instant. The positive operations like addition and multiplication are always easier to do in the head. Just transform every question into shorter parts and these shorter parts into operations you know well. And all the basics Just have to be hammered in your head. I learned them with my fingers too. Everything after that becomes easier to imagine as pictures. sin and cos are fun because they are just waves. tan is ugly, but still manageable. Most other graph should be easier too. If it gets to xyz you can always put random stuff in your room and walk through the math question. Everything with i and everything after i gets ugly and i still don't how to imagine that shit.
>>34525171i'm a doctordoes this work with oranges
>>34525375They're not really comparable.
>>34525148So, addition is fairly simple. If there are five apples on the table, and then I put four more apples on there, how many apples do I now have? That we write as 5 + 4. There are 5 originally, and we are adding 4. You can figure this out by starting at 5 and then counting up another 4 numbers (6, 7, 8, 9). But quite honestly, with small numbers, you mostly do memorise the answer, in the same way you have the multiplication tables. I don't calculate that 5 + 4 = 9, I remember it.Subtraction is the reverse process: if I start with 9 apples and remove 4, how many are there left? It might help to think of subtraction as addition in reverse. If you have something like 9 - 4, think of that instead as "4 plus what equals 9?" (4 + 5 = 9, so 9 - 4 = 5).Multiplication is just addition, but more than once. So if I start with nothing on the table, and I add four apples, and then another four, and another four, I have more added four apples, three times. That's the meaning of 3 x 4: start at zero, and add 4 three times. Division is about splitting a larger number into equal groups. If I have 20 apples and I divide them into groups so that there are four apples in each group, how many groups do I have? The answer is that you have five groups of four apples: 20 / 4 = 5. You can also think of this as multiplication in reverse: instead of thinking of it as 20 / 4, think of it as "4 times what number equals 20?" Or you can also think of it as multiple subtractions: if I start with 20 apples, how many times can I take away 4 of them before there are no apples left?
>>34525148>Pic related is me unironically. When this happens the thing I have to do is draw 18 circles and then cross 9 then count the remaining circles.well first of all, you could try doing this same method faster, by drawing tally marks or something instead of circlesi imagine drawing circles takes a longer time than drawing some other shapes, so this could help>>34525148>I don't understand how people who are good at math can see 18-9 and just know what the answer is immediately. I don't think they have it memorized but they are doing something in their head that I'm not.you start to develop reflexes almost, which work very wellthis is what most people do in your headyou mentioned how multiplication became easier to grasp once you realized it was duplication of the first numberpeople who are good at math just collected a bunch more realizations like that, basically, and turn them into reflexessee if you can realize more things about the shapes/form of arithmetic, it might get easier to do things in your head :D
>>34525148>I don't think they have it memorized but they are doing something in their head that I'm not.They probably do have it memorised. 18 is two times nine. Remove one nine and you have one nine left.
>>34525148Ngl if you need a visual aid, try using graphs to help yourself. Number lines are great tools to visualize the problem.What types of math are you working with? You listed basic operations like multiplication and subtraction, so I'm guessing you're talking about like, Pre-Algebra or something.If you can, try to pick up a textbook from a thrift store. Theyre usually like $3 for an entire textbook that you'd get in school (which is insane imo). Textbooks very frequently contain visual examples to better explain concepts.counting on fingers is also helpful. I do it all the time.
>>34525148You're just stupid. There's nothing you can do. Use a calculator.
>>34525148Easy numbers I mostly just know from memory. For example, with 18 − 9, I instantly know the answer is 9 because I already know that 9 + 9 = 18But with harder numbers, especially double or triple digits, I use a simple method: I figure out how much is left to reach the bigger number.For example, in 18 − 9, I start at 9 and ask myself: ‘How much do I need to add to get to 18?’ The answer is 9, so 18 − 9 = 9.It’s basically thinking about subtraction as finding the missing amount needed to complete the numberBut to be honest anon, math is practice and practice makes perfect
