Description

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What is Math Solver?
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Math Solver is a free application designed to help peopleunderstand how to solve both algebraic and regular equations, in away that a standard calculator cannot.
This is done by displaying the step-by-step process of solving agiven equation, and includes a small description of the stepsrequired to get to the end point.
For example:
"2x+5=20"
"1/3+2"

The steps given from the program will help you learn theprocesses for solving these types of equations, it is not intendedto facilitate cheating in assignments. There is no way to preventcheating on assignments with this application. However, studentswho use it for cheating will not understand the processes of thisdiscipline, which will hinder them in more advanced maths.
Cheating = No learning!
No learning = No knowledge!
No knowledge = No passing!
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Why?
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As a student at university with a major in Computer Science, I amrequired to learn mathematics in order to understand how certainparts of algorithms work.
Why some algorithms are fast, while others are slow? What steps doI need to take in order to make it easier to create features forprogram? Without maths, it's very difficult to do this.

It occurred to me that the best way that I learn personally isthrough trial and error. An example of this situation would be if Iwas asked to solve the equation "2x=20". Normally, I will attemptthis on paper several times before getting it right, but in thecourse of doing so I will try several different techniques; many ofwhich will are incorrect. This causes substantial confusion, andisn’t a very efficient way to learn. In the process of solving thisproblem, several questions arise:
What is the desired outcome of "2x=20"?
Why is the 'x' there, and what does it mean?
Why is there an equals sign in "5x=9"?
Why can't I solve for x in "2x+y=21"?

One of my solutions to these questions was to look for a programthat allows me to see the required steps in order to solve anequation. There are plenty of applications out there, but theygenerally require payment and either don't work as required, orcost too much for a student.
Therefore, I decided to create a program that focuses on one aspectof learning mathematics.
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How?
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Following the same principles of mathematics, I created analgorithm that runs a process to solve an equation, in a way mostreasonable humans would solve it.
Why an algorithm?

We can use a regular calculator to solve any equation given tous that does not contain a variable, such as:
5+2x4+25/5-5
The calculator solves the equation and tells us the final answeralmost instantaneously:
5+2x4+25/5-5 = 13
Oh cool! This makes it so much easier to get a result, so I canwrite down my answer.
But... there's one thing missing. Why is the final answer 13?
If we added in brackets to show how we solved this equation onpaper ((((5+2)x4)+25)/5)-5), shouldn’t that evaluate to 5.6?

This application is aimed at people who are learningmathematical equations, or who simply forget how to BEDMAS onoccasion. It will both solve the problem, and write a descriptionfor each step taken in order to get the final result. After thisproject has been completed, I hope this will benefit others in thesame way that it has benefited me.
Each of the descriptions for understanding the equation is based onmy own subjective experiences of the evaluation process, but I planto do further user testing based on the feedback from otherusers.

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Special thanks to these amazing people!
Emily Clemens, Dylan Macdonald, Elf Eldridge, Dillon Mayhews,Steven Archer