What is Math?

What is Math?

          Math is the merging of numeric values and letters with concepts and patterns. We use mathematics as a tool to prove many different concepts based on different types of noticeable patterns in different situations by using numeric values and letter values that correspond to unknown values. Once someone sees a pattern, they try to find a way to internalize that pattern and either make sense of it or try to use it to predict a future outcome. This can be seen as the use of logic, as mathematics can be a branch of logic.

           Math is also one element in life that is always defined when rules are followed. When used with proper application rules, math can never be wrong as it is a fixed entity that cannot be broken. If one is correct with their arithmetic in mathematics, one can never be proven wrong as math is a concrete system. It's not a subjective topic such as an English application where many different answers can be said about a given situation whereas mathematics has a clear cut answer. There may be many different roads to a given answer, but there is always one correct endpoint in solving mathematics.

          The top 5 biggest moments in mathematics are the identification of an imaginary number, the ability to conceptualize patterns, the ability to form formulas to predict future occurrences, the defining of pi, and the conceptualization of graph theory. I feel these are the top 5 biggest moments in mathematics because the imaginary number has many applications to it, the ability to conceptualize patterns allows us to use such patterns to either predict future occurrences or see trends within a pattern, defining pi has allowed us to expand our knowledge on circular shapes, and using graphs to have a visualization of the different formulas and patterns that we create from many different situations. These five big moments are huge because they define a lot of topics that are used to teach the young minds of the nation and they must be important if they are part of the chosen few to have students exposed to in their K-12 experiences.