#methemetics

Math is beautiful! 

^^that is the key; I literally meant that in a non proof based math class you will not get a question like that

I’m still confused. Do you have questions like “show that this function is decreasing” (=“find intervals of increase/decrease”, same question, no scary word “show)? Or “determine whether this series converges or diverges”? “Show that these two vectors are orthogonal”? “determine if these lines intersect” etc? Same difference. These are all “proofs”. 

One other thing–and correct me if this sounds wrong–but when something is called a “non proof based” course, I assume it is really a distinction about how much of your homework is expected to be in full sentences. It doesn’t mean anything about whether the professor is doing proofs on the board or whether the student is expected to know how to apply the meaning of a theorem in a problem

oh

that’s not what i thought proof based means, but maybe the rest of you readers do, and that’s the source of my confusion

but on the other hand “ how much of your homework is expected to be in full sentences. ” is puzziling to me. Just like...you should have sentences where you need to have sentences to communicate the solution, and you don’t need to have sentences where you don’t need sentences? “Compute an integral” doesn’t need any words attached to it, but on the other hand “Use intermediate value theorem to show that the equations has a solution” is not possible to write without sentences, and both kinds of problems appear in a Calc 1 class?