Ask HN: I am building a step-by-step equation solver to learn how math works

#1

Post by tkosan » Fri, Jul 08, 2016, 12:30 PM UTC

I am an average programmer who used to have trouble understanding how math worked. According to Donald Knuth, science is knowledge that is understood so well that it can be taught to a computer. So, I decided to write a program that solves elementary algebra equations step-by-step the way humans typically do to fully understand the process. This turned out to be a very effective way to learn math because I now understand how elementary algebra works, and I am no longer intimidated by more advanced mathematics.

My question is, would enough programmers be interested in learning how math works using this approach to make it worthwhile for me to create educational materials that are based on it?

Re: Ask HN: I am building a step-by-step equation solver to learn how math works

#2

Post by tkosan » Fri, Jul 08, 2016, 12:33 PM UTC

This video shows what I have working so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy6bwNBkAK0

Re: Ask HN: I am building a step-by-step equation solver to learn how math works

#3

Post by jjpe » Fri, Jul 08, 2016, 12:59 PM UTC

This is pretty cool. I might actually use this (assuming it can solve any "solvable" linear system). I'd also use a version of this for differential equations, if you happened to write one :)

Re: Ask HN: I am building a step-by-step equation solver to learn how math works

#4

Post by selmat » Fri, Jul 08, 2016, 2:00 PM UTC

I think there will be hundreds of kids and students who struggle with math.

Re: Ask HN: I am building a step-by-step equation solver to learn how math works

#5

Post by penetrarthur » Fri, Jul 08, 2016, 2:47 PM UTC

tkosan wrote: post #2

This video shows what I have working so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy6bwNBkAK0

Please explain either with text or voice what is happening in that video. It is hard to follow.

Re: Ask HN: I am building a step-by-step equation solver to learn how math works

#6

Post by tkosan » Fri, Jul 08, 2016, 3:34 PM UTC

penetrarthur wrote: post #5

tkosan wrote: post #2

This video shows what I have working so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy6bwNBkAK0

Please explain either with text or voice what is happening in that video. It is hard to follow.

Lesson 6 at the following website explains the fundamentals of how the solver works:

http://patternmatics.org/temp_1/mathfuture/

The other lessons explain some of the concepts used in lesson 6.

Re: Ask HN: I am building a step-by-step equation solver to learn how math works

#7

Post by wslh » Fri, Jul 08, 2016, 5:20 PM UTC

Yes, sure. You can even give a better insight about how roots of a polynomial of grade 2 can be obtained with a step by step approach or how you can derive and integrate symbolically.

This is like the explain command in databases.

Re: Ask HN: I am building a step-by-step equation solver to learn how math works

#8

Post by wslh » Fri, Jul 08, 2016, 5:20 PM UTC

Yes, sure. You can even give a better insight about how roots of a polynomial of grade 2 can be obtained with a step by step approach or how you can derive and integrate symbolically.

This is like the explain command in databases.

Re: Ask HN: I am building a step-by-step equation solver to learn how math works

#9

Post by wayn3 » Fri, Jul 08, 2016, 11:22 PM UTC

This exists. Its a program called Maple and really sophisticated. Industry standard. Every physicist/mathematician has a license. It can perform all the standard operations on a lot of math objects that you have probably never even heard about. No offense here. Math gets a lot stranger once you leave calculus behind.

There is wolframalpha, the computational knowledge engine. Provides maple core functionality and behaves more like a search engine.

If you do this for your own learning experience, that's awesome. As a business, you would have to be really good at a lot of very deep math to compete on that level.

Re: Ask HN: I am building a step-by-step equation solver to learn how math works

#10

Post by tkosan » Sat, Jul 09, 2016, 2:50 AM UTC

wayn3 wrote: post #9

This exists. Its a program called Maple and really sophisticated. Industry standard. Every physicist/mathematician has a license. It can perform all the standard operations on a lot of math objects that you have probably never even heard about. No offense here. Math gets a lot stranger once you leave calculus behind. There is wolframalpha, the computational knowledge engine. Provides maple core functionality and beha…

Is Maple able to show the steps a human would typically take to solve a given elementary algebra equation?