Math alert: We’re going to talk a bit about numbers. Specifically, we’re going to address basic geometry. Geometry is an alternative way to think about relations among numbers: as locations in space.
We find that when people come into the Clear Science offices for tutoring, often their problem is not with chemistry, engineering, or physics, but is with the way they think of numbers.
Numbers can be quantities. (For example, we are about to type 5 X’s: XXXXX.) But numbers can also be increments of movement in space. (Notice how each X takes up a given space on your screen, so each X is a movement that far on the screen.) Therefore, all basic math can be done with a ruler. Or with a line, and that’s geometry.
Make a line, and mark off points on it. Go to the 4th point. If you add 2, it’s like going 2 spaces to the right, so 4 + 2 = 6. If you subtract 2, it’s like going backwards, and you end up at 2.
