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proofs (1 Viewer)

Gtsh

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What are some tips to help you solve proof questions, I'm finding them really difficult? Thanks!
 

Nedom

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I don't remember all the kinds of proofs.

Anything that requires algebraic manipulation should be quite straightforward (it's the minimum criteria you should meet), where things like MI inequality questions also go into this category. You typically will need to prove X > Y, so you can sub in/ write X or Y so that it equates to the RHS. These are called the 'brute-force' questions, which are also present in integration (which you will learn later on).

In the middle to the high level of difficulty, I would say is inequality (proofs?), the QM-AM-GM-HM questions will need you to do a moderate amount of practice questions to get familiar with the stereotypical questions that would generally be asked (i.e. the pretty simple, overused questions/ question structures asked), otherwise, it will go onto the next category.

This next category is what I call the 'EUREKA' category (or it's just a skill issue, and I am trash), where generally there is a 'trick' or a 'big-brain' move that you have to discover to unlock the method to solve a question, and no practice really increases your chances of getting these eureka moments because these are usually the harder questions that each has their own unique tricks or big-brain visions needed.

NB: Proof is typically the most hated topic in MX2 due to its difficulty and tedious nature (especially when you can't see how to go through the question (so you can't solve it) or you just f**k up some section in MI and have to fix something and consequently subsequent lines (which you may consider not doing depending on the time you have on hand)), and so it's nothing to feel worried about.
 

yanujw

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What are some tips to help you solve proof questions, I'm finding them really difficult? Thanks!
For inequalities, write out what LHS - RHS is and then prove that it is > or < 0 as required, since proving that a function has a certain sign is much easier than proving the inequality directly.

Also, proofs is a new topic, but was segmented and tested in old syllabus papers. You can get practice for basically everything in the new proofs topic (except contrapositives and contradiction) from old past papers.
 

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