How to avoid careless errors in math competitions

[Howers]

I find the more advanced math I learn the worse I get in child's arithmetic =( Don't know if it has to do with age, I'm sitll in my 20s.

A few months ago it took me 10 seconds to confirm 7 + 4 = 11.

 

[sharkshockey]

I find the more advanced math I learn the worse I get in child's arithmetic =( Don't know if it has to do with age, I'm sitll in my 20s.

A few months ago it took me 10 seconds to confirm 7 + 4 = 11.

Same here... when math starts turning into the alphabet, I forget the basics. I lost 5 points on a math test for accidentally evaluating 2/3 + 2/3 as 4/9.

 

[leumas614]

The worst is the GRE which uses traps that are satistically most likely to fool you. Like which is bigger 0.82^6 or 0.82^5. And 4*2 is 6 while 4+2 is 8. The best approach is to come back to the problem afterwards and challenge even your basic assumptions because otherwise you may assume something to be true when it is really not. Unfortunately you can't do that on the GRE since it doesn't let you repeat questions.

 

[snkk197]

I find the more advanced math I learn the worse I get in child's arithmetic =( Don't know if it has to do with age, I'm sitll in my 20s.

A few months ago it took me 10 seconds to confirm 7 + 4 = 11.

It's a bit of a relief to read this forum. Doing mundane jobs outside of uni, I am convinced are making me more stupid. I can practically feel the IQ points dropping out of me head. I was fantastic at mental arithmetic when I was at school, the fastest in my class. Now, even though I love math and am about to embark on a degree in physics, when I sell chocolate bars and ice-cream, or check my supermarket receipt, I struggle to add a string of numbers accurately.

I wonder if it's worth practicing mental arithmetic - multiplication tables, fast methods of multiplying large numbers, fun things you learn at school and then forget when you get on to the more advanced stuff. I don't mean spend hours drilling, but a few mins a day, while brushing your teeth, on the bus or whatever. Would that, (along with lots of sleep, good diet, plenty of exercise) help improve accuracy?

NB: I used to think sudoku might sharpen my brain, but for me personally it's a massive and fruitless waste of time!

 

[glueball8]

I think we should stop using calculators...

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

for the title question, my answer is stop living.

cause life is about making those mistakes, and the more you interact the more you will make mistakes.

 

[guguma]

It is much better to make a simple mistake and look back to it for a good laugh, than to insist on the truth about a horrible wrongdoing.

If you want to accomplish great things, small mistakes are nothing (I hate time limited tests or competitions just because of this reason). But if you are writing a thesis with an intention to prove that stars are actually tied to a celestial dome with gigantic steel strings and making no small mistakes then you just judge yourself.

In a quantum mechanics test I got a horrible mark from a question just because I miscalculated a stupid integral due to constants (horrible handwriting I guess). I discussed the answer of the particular question with a friend after the test, he said to me "dude, I memorized the solution of that problem from the solutions manual, I did not work it out" in my amazement. Guess what he got full marks...

MORAL:

I can work that question out whenever I need, and many similar ones, if I make a mistake it will come out sooner or later and I will correct it, the other guy can't.

Damn, I hate the education system, just throw us some money and food and let us think and study in peace without rushing anything will you!

 

[glueball8]

Damn, I hate the education system, just throw us some money and food and let us think and study in peace without rushing anything will you!

I guess you can quit school like Einstein...

 

[guguma]

I guess you can quit school like Einstein...

The essence of the problem abides in your suggestion. Why should Einstein quit school to be Einstein?

And no I would not quit school, if you are serious in your suggestion.

 

[cristo]

I think we should stop using calculators...

I don't like this suggestion. Maybe in school children should be encouraged to use calculators as little as possible, but I don't see the point in memorizing multiplication tables etc once you're through high school.

 

[Sheneron]

I think prevention of mistakes is better strategy then searching for mistakes you could have possibly made. What I do is to take time and answer each question carefully and fully. I answer a question and check my work with each step in order to prevent mistakes. Whenever I finish I never go back and check my work because I take my time and have no need to check over work that was already checked. I find its more beneficial to spend time answering a question completely and correctly versus doing the test fast in order to save time checking you work at the end.

There is no need to check for mistakes when you know you have answered the question correctly.

 

[glueball8]

I don't like this suggestion. Maybe in school children should be encouraged to use calculators as little as possible, but I don't see the point in memorizing multiplication tables etc once you're through high school.

Well I'm in high school. Hmm this year they changed the AMC 12 to no cal. and that killed me... (I knew the day on the contest). I don't mean for everything, like trying to divide 1236543241234/23452 you have to use the cal but for simple stuff we should try not to...

Ps. lol what my mom says...

 

[xfoo]

I think we should stop using calculators...

I agree with this when the student is still learning the math (beyond this, use whatever you need to be efficient). I guess I am a fan of learning 'by hand' before using the tools that make it easier, instead of just jumping straight to the tools. I see people use calculators all the time and don't even recognize when they have punched in something wrong because they have no intuitive feel for numbers.