Any maths buffs?

Are you aspiring to be like him, then, Iain?

http://www.math.kit.edu/~hug/en

HOW?!!? How do you find this stuff Oliver?!!?

I did that with physics to brush up before an MSci in Computer Science. I would definitely recommend and the pace is adequate, not too fast for beginners.

Easy as π, just search for 'mathematics hug'. :)

google savant

Sorry, I actually did the corresponding 1 year part-time certificate in higher edu which is a good way to keep your options open. You can easily enrol on a Russel group uni full time course afterwards or stay at birkbeck or quit with a certificate. Let me know if you have any questions about it.

Easy as π, just search for 'mathematics hug'. :)

Nice one Oliver :) Entertaining

Lol

Yep. UoL is big into distance learning, mainly for the overseas market. According to that page you can take 3-8 years to complete the course.

Maths buffs, some help please. Really basic one, my girlfriend came to me with an equation "rearrange y=ax+7 to make x the subject".

I said -7 from both side (y-7=ax) then divide both by 'a' (y-7/a=x) which I think is right. But a colleague initially said he would divide by 'a' first. I said no because you'd end up with (y/a=x+7/a)

1) is that all correct
2) am I right in thinking if you divide on one side, you need to do the same to each +/- element seperately on the other
3) is there a name for this principle?

Same thing. I would have done your method first really.

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Maths

Both ways would give you the same result, however yours is the most straight forward

Wouldn't the colleague's suggestion only be correct if the original was y=a(x+7)?

Disclaimer: I gave up A level maths to do art instead, and that was almost 25 years ago.

Dividing by a first would actually be sensible if you started with y=a(x+7), yes.

You'll still get the right answer for y=ax+7 though, it's just uglier.

But a colleague initially said he would divide by 'a' first. I said no because you'd end up with (y/a=x+7/a)

That is correct but he is also right as:
y/a-7/a =x is the same as y-7/a = x

Because:
I said -7 from both side (y-7=ax) then divide both by 'a' (y-7/a=x)

The order of the divide operations/subtraction operations in this case does not matter. So do whatever is handiest :)

[and yes operation order CAN matter in maths stolen from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associative_property]

(5-3) -2 is not 5 - (3-2)
(4/2)/2 is not 4/(2/2)

Disclaimer I have studied maths to BsC level.

2) am I right in thinking if you divide on one side, you need to do the same to each +/- element seperately on the other
3) is there a name for this principle?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributive_property

So suppose you did divide by a first, and end up with y/a=x+7/a, where would you go from that?

-(7/a) and then up with y/a-7/a=x, is this the same as saying y-7/a=x?

edit: didn't see your post @JWestland, thanks all, thinnk I'm just about wrapping my head around it.

youtube is your friend here if you want to Maths Moar

A video along with some practise often goes in better than reading text.

and even then you will have to be super careful checking work, maths isn't easy for most of us so don't worry if you don't get it in one go :)

The thing is I did A-level, so this should be easy for me, but I haven't applied it in years. My other half is now teaching it (among other things) at GCSE level for a private company so we both need to scrub up. Thanks though, I'll check that out.

"More than 80% of the members who backed Davis or Johnson said they voted Leave in the referendum, while Rees-Mogg secured 93% of his support from members who voted for Brexit."
How many votes (out of say, 1'000) do they each get?

Impossible to say.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/202305

Very witty, very Matt.

Maths puzzle that I pondered the other day - assuming that you don't pull up on the bars, what's the maximum gradient that you can ride up (without pushing off the ground into a rolling start) in a given gear ratio?

Hint: your full body weight at 1 crank length from the BB is the maximum torque you can put through the system.

I made a little Python calculator and the results were a bit surprising.