Hey friends đ.
This is the fourth issue of the STEM Medley, which is a weekly newsletter in which you get one study tip and one math question delivered directly to your inbox.
Thought that I would give this âcreatorpreneurshipâ a try, and see how it works out :)
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1 Study Tip
My fourth study tip is now transitioning away from the topic of mnemonics. If you want to learn more, feel free to read the past couple of issues. Now, weâll be talking about what the future of learning looks like.
This might not be a study tip, but it is essential for the present generation to know what the future looks like for them before they can take any meaningful action. To dive deeper, I interviewed Mr. Prasad Rao, the managing director of his own educational start-up Pegasus Consulting.
My entire interview with him revolved around the fact that technology is the future and that at some point, schools will have to transfer towards it.
Quoting him, he said that, âself-learning is on the riseâ, which is very much true. Technology nowadays can outsmart and outperform human beings in almost every way, from writing essays to coming up with lesson plans. Plus, the convenience of being in your living room and learning feels like a massive upside compared to in-person schooling. He especially thinks that AI will be leading the change, and traditional schools will have no choice but to accept the fact that computers have the potential to change the way others think of school.
But, I donât think that schooling in person will go away that easily. For example, going to a real school gives the student an environment that encourages hard work, rather than making the child feel lethargic and longing to lie down on their couch all day. In addition, there is the concept of friends. At the middle school and high school grades, friends become one of the studentsâ top priorities, because having company gives you the power and motivation to do the things that you might not want to. Some friends will also stay with you for life, and you must understand the feeling and reassurance that someone will always be there to cover your back.
The Solution from Last Week
This is the solution to last weekâs problem. To refresh your memory, here it is:
Q: Find X.
10X + 5Y = 35
5X + Y = 10
To solve this problem, you first have to read the solution to the problem in the last issue. But, to summarise what was explained in that issue, to solve algebraic equations, you need to isolate all the like terms on different sides of the equation. However, changes that you do on one side have to happen to the other side as well, otherwise the equal sign becomes invalid. The equal sign is a comparison sign that shows the value of one side of the equation is the same as the other.
For this problem, we need to add to these rules another essential one. Substitution. It is precisely what it sounds like; we need to simplify one equation such that we can insert the simplified equation into the other one in place of a common variable. For example, if X = 5, and you have the equation X + 5 = 10, you can substitute the value of X from the first equation into the second, because X = X.
However, if you have the equations 3X = 6 and X + 4 = 6, since 3X â X, you canât substitute the first equation into the second so easily. However, you just need to convert it so that you can. In this case, 3X = 6 can be simplified to X = 2, making sure that both sides are changed by the same amount, or divided by 3. Now that X = X, we can substitute X = 2 into X + 4 = 6.
Now that we know this, we can solve this problem. First, we need to simplify one equation, for example, number 2. To do this, we need to choose a variable to substitute with. Letâs choose X, but you can follow the same steps with Y as well.
First, we need to isolate the Xs on one side of the equation. To do this, using the principles taught in the last issue, we need to subtract the Y from the left side. So, to keep the equal sign valid, we also need to subtract Y from the right. The current second equation is 5X = 10 - Y.
Remember, to substitute equations into one another, we need to make the variable that we are using to substitute the same. Since the X in the other equation is 10X, we need to convert 5X into 10X. To do this, we need to multiply 5X by 2. To keep the equality, we also need to multiply the other side of the second equation by 2. The final second equation is 10X = 20 - 2Y.
Now for the fun part: the actual substitution. 10X is equal to 20 - 2Y, so we can replace the 10X in the first equation with 20 - 2Y. Consequently, the first equation is now 20 - 2Y + 5Y = 35.
At present, the like terms arenât combined and isolated on different sides of the equation. So, letâs do that! First, combining. -2Y + 5Y is the same as 3Y, so now the equation is 20 + 3Y = 35. For the numbers, combination and isolation happen simultaneously by subtracting 20 from the left side and subtracting it from the right side as well, to keep the balance between the two sides. Currently, the equation is 3Y = 35 - 20, or 3Y = 15. This can be simplified into Y = 5 by dividing both sides of the equation by 3.
But, the question asks us to find X. Which is why we need to use substitution again! If we take the second equation, 5X + Y = 10, and put 5 in place of Y, we get 5X + 5 = 10. Subtracting 5 from both sides of the equation, we get 5X = 5, or X = 1.
As a result, our final answer to this question is X = 1
Yay, we did it!
1 Math Question
Now, itâs time for the weekly math question. Test your abilities!
Q: Find M + D.
3M + 5D = 130
8M - D = 60
The solution comes out next week!
(Use the information in the solution from last week above)
Thatâs about a wrap for this issue of the STEM Medley. Thanks for reading and happy adventures in the realm of mathematics and science.