Making unconventional A-level maths study guide ADVICE PLEASE

I've collected proofs and derivations of the formulas and theorems which we are taught in A-level maths, as well as explanations for some of the methods and techniques used, which I found really helped me to understand and remember them.

I've decided to put them together into a type of guide with annotations and explanations so others can really understand what they're doing next time they use integration by parts, or Pythagoras', or the quotient rule for differentiation etc. etc.

The guide should be ready in about a week as it takes a while to type formulas and equations into a computer, however I was wondering if anybody had any requests of particular formulas or techniques which they would like me to include explanations/proofs for, or if anybody has any which they would like to send me and I'll include it and give you credit.

Also, I'm looking to post/publish this guide in a few places online, so if anybody knows any other websites which you think it would be suitable to post it on please let me know :smile:

Reply 1

alow

\LaTeX

pls. Seriously, it makes typing formulas trivial.

Reply 2

Zacken

Came here to say the same thing as alow.

\LaTeX

, you need it.

Reply 3

redsquared

Original post by alow

\LaTeX

pls. Seriously, it makes typing formulas trivial.

Original post by Zacken

Came here to say the same thing as alow.

\LaTeX

, you need it.

Ahh I've already done half of it painfully using the Microsoft word equations tool, I'll download it now. Do you know of any other websites that I could post the guide?

Reply 4

alow

Original post by redsquared

Ahh I've already done half of it painfully using the Microsoft word equations tool, I'll download it now. Do you know of any other websites that I could post the guide?

Download the

\LaTeX

package first and then I would recommend Texmaker for editing in it. Trust me, it'll be faster to rewrite it all in

\LaTeX

than to write half in Word. And it'll look so much more professional.

Maybe there's a subreddit for A Levels?

Reply 5

redsquared

Original post by alow

Download the

\LaTeX

package first and then I would recommend Texmaker for editing in it. Trust me, it'll be faster to rewrite it all in

\LaTeX

than to write half in Word. And it'll look so much more professional.

Maybe there's a subreddit for A Levels?

Thanks a lot I've just downloaded it and I can already tell it will look way better in latex. Oh yeah I'll definitely check it out, cheers :smile:

Reply 6

alow

Original post by redsquared

Thanks a lot I've just downloaded it and I can already tell it will look way better in latex. Oh yeah I'll definitely check it out, cheers :smile:

Yeah it's not too difficult to get the hang of. You can use \section{title here}, \subsection{subtitle here}, etc. to organise your work. I personally like using align environments for maths as you can do stuff like:

\begin{align}
xyz & yxz & zxy \\
abc & cba & bca
\end{align}

Where the &s denote columns, so the xyz and abc, etc. will be aligned, with \\ meaning "start new line".

No problem :smile:

Reply 7

redsquared

Original post by alow

Yeah it seems really powerful when it comes to manipulating equations and stuff, do you know any resources I can use to quickly learn the basics?

Reply 8

Rather_Cynical

If you could do this for every formulae in C1-4, M1-2, and A-level Physics that would be wonderful. I've started learning why integrals are essentially antiderivatives, derivatives by limits, pythagorian theorem, etc. I absolutely couldn't understand Lorentz Transformation/Special Relativity, and certain quantum phenomena.

I'm struggling a lot with trying to self-teach group theory, and a lot of undergraduate mathematics in an Engineering degree :/

Reply 9

34908seikj

Original post by redsquared

Yeah it seems really powerful when it comes to manipulating equations and stuff, do you know any resources I can use to quickly learn the basics?

This is pretty helpful.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/LaTex

Reply 10

redsquared

Original post by Rather_Cynical

Well I was going to stick to maths for this guide but I might do one for physics in the future, and yeah I definitely will try to make the guide as comprehensive as possible. I'm taking contributions from people as well so hopefully I can include everything. Good luck with your degree I hope you sort out any issues you're having!

Reply 11

redsquared

Original post by 34908seikj

This is pretty helpful.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/LaTex

Thanks ill check it out

Reply 12

Zacken

Original post by redsquared

Yeah it seems really powerful when it comes to manipulating equations and stuff, do you know any resources I can use to quickly learn the basics?

just by using it.

Reply 13

redsquared

Original post by alow

I've just realised how long its going to take me to convert all my work so far into LaTeX, so I'm probably going to release the original version first and then update it once I finish transferring it into latex for the final version.