[Staff Post] New Core Mathematics Section is now live

Hi all,

I know you have been getting antsy in anticipation of the rebirth of Curriculum Mathematics. It is now here. Please post any questions you have in this thread. The format has changed dramatically in ways that we believe will be much better than the old Curriculum Math section. These are some differences:

You can choose specifically what types of problems you would like to do.
You can choose what difficulty of problems you would like to do.
These problems do not expire at the end of the week.
There are a whole lot more problems.
You can assess your strengths and identify your weaknesses on the expanded Techniques Trainer

The intention of "Curriculum Math" was to offer everyone the ability to practice problems that were more relevant to their success in school, on some tests, and help people polish your basics. Algebra/Trig was meant to help people ease into the Olympiad sections, and Calculus was meant to offer the large number of users who are currently studying calculus in school extra problems to chew on.

We have always thought of the Olympiad problems as being harder and different from what you see in school. For our olympiad weekly challenges, having a surprise selection of atypical problems that expire at the end of the week is part of the fun.

In our opinion that format was not the best for helping people get the practice they need. For this reason, we renamed the category "Core Mathematics". We do not know what all of your individual high school math curriculums look like. These problems are meant to help you master the essential "Core" concepts of high school math that are necessary for success in any mathematical endeavor.

We hope you enjoy it,

The Entire Staff of Brilliant

Click here to explore the new problems.

Markdown

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*italics* or _italics_

italics

**bold** or __bold__

bold


- bulleted
- list

bulleted
list


1. numbered
2. list

numbered
list

Note: you must add a full line of space before and after lists for them to show up correctly

paragraph 1

paragraph 2

paragraph 1

paragraph 2

[example link](https://brilliant.org)

example link

> This is a quote

This is a quote

    # I indented these lines
    # 4 spaces, and now they show
    # up as a code block.

    print "hello world"

# I indented these lines
# 4 spaces, and now they show
# up as a code block.

print "hello world"

Math

Appears as

Remember to wrap math in $ ... $ or \[ ... \] to ensure proper formatting.

2 \times 3

2 \times 3

2^{34}

2^{34}

a_{i-1}

a_{i-1}

\frac{2}{3}

\frac{2}{3}

\sqrt{2}

\sqrt{2}

\sum_{i=1}^3

\sum_{i=1}^3

\sin \theta

\sin \theta

\boxed{123}

\boxed{123}

Easy Math Editor

This discussion board is a place to discuss our Daily Challenges and the math and science related to those challenges. Explanations are more than just a solution — they should explain the steps and thinking strategies that you used to obtain the solution. Comments should further the discussion of math and science.

When posting on Brilliant:

Use the emojis to react to an explanation, whether you're congratulating a job well done , or just really confused .
Ask specific questions about the challenge or the steps in somebody's explanation. Well-posed questions can add a lot to the discussion, but posting "I don't understand!" doesn't help anyone.
Try to contribute something new to the discussion, whether it is an extension, generalization or other idea related to the challenge.
Stay on topic — we're all here to learn more about math and science, not to hear about your favorite get-rich-quick scheme or current world events.

Markdown	Appears as
`italics` or `_italics_`	italics
`bold` or `__bold__`	bold
- bulleted - list	bulleted list
1. numbered 2. list	numbered list
Note: you must add a full line of space before and after lists for them to show up correctly
paragraph 1 paragraph 2	paragraph 1 paragraph 2
`[example link](https://brilliant.org)`	example link
`> This is a quote`	This is a quote
# I indented these lines # 4 spaces, and now they show # up as a code block. print "hello world"	# I indented these lines # 4 spaces, and now they show # up as a code block. print "hello world"

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `$` ... `$` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$

Comments

Not everyone can get through to the 'next tier' because the site says 'Each successful invite grants you access to the next tier of problem sets – across all difficulty levels, inside all topics.' What about people who are not on fb ? It would also lead people already in fb on a wild goose chase of finding people to invite them to brilliant.

Nishanth Hegde - 8 years, 2 months ago

Yes Brilliant.org please also remember about Luddite people like me who would choose death rather than FB. I think the guys with management degrees in the Brilliant staff are thinking way too much now. Otherwise this is a great feature and will surely help me brush up my rusty calculus. Also, thanks for making solutions free :)

Abhishek De - 8 years, 2 months ago

We will find an option for you and others like you so that you neither have to die nor abstain from bringing people to Brilliant. For the record, nobody employed by Brilliant.org has a degree in management.

Peter Taylor Staff - 8 years, 1 month ago

@Peter Taylor – Maybe you can just spend your points for the next tier of problems, that will be a more equal chance for everyone.

Bob Yang - 8 years, 1 month ago

@Peter Taylor – Maybe we could contribute problems ourselves?

Carl Joshua Quines - 8 years, 1 month ago

i too dont have a facebook account...but my father has have one....but his friends in his friends' list are all employee ....so how they can engage their time into this website???....even if being useful...! :(

Sayan Chaudhuri - 8 years, 1 month ago

And what about my friends who are (mostly) not really interested in mathematics?

Shendy Marcello Yuniar - 8 years, 2 months ago

That's the same problem here.

Pranav Arora - 8 years, 1 month ago

Pure commercialization............:(

Edward Elric - 8 years, 2 months ago

Please see my comment in this thread, Nishanth. Eventually there will be other ways than facebook to unlock problem sets.

Well, there's a good news. Each successful invite grants you access to the next tier of problem sets – across all difficulty levels, inside all topics. So, one would need a maximum of 4 invites to unlock all sets (atleast for now). :D

Sambit Senapati - 8 years, 1 month ago

Thanks a bunch Brilliant staff!

Pranav Arora - 8 years, 2 months ago

In regard to the inviting friends thing it would be nice if this feature would not hinder every user. Personally I think it should still be in the system so that we can get additional people but users should also be able to spend about 250 points to unlock the next tier of questions in each section. This seems very fair to me.

Alexander Sludds - 8 years, 2 months ago

I agree.

No doubt Brilliant staff are great,thanxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kiran Patel - 8 years, 2 months ago

Super phenomenal!!!!

Fernando Vela - 8 years, 2 months ago

That looks really really good!

Tim Vermeulen - 8 years, 2 months ago

It's wonderful.=D

Jia Zheng Chai - 8 years, 2 months ago

It didn't say I could only answer three times… So now I answered one of the problems wrong (and I obviously figured it out now ;) ). Will this problem be unsolved forever now, and is there no chance for me of ever earning the stars attached to it?

Hi Tim, thanks for noticing, we've added the standard "Tries left" notification to the submit button.

We will eventually be adding more problem sets and you can try to gain the missed star(s) that way. Also, if it was a easier difficulty set, you can jump ahead and earn 2 or even all 3 stars by getting a complete set of problems correct at the 2nd or 3rd level.

Clarification on how the stars work: if you solve a Basic and then an Intermediate problem set within the same technique, you will have earned 2 stars in that technique for getting to the Intermediate level, rather than 3. In other words, stars are achieved rather than accumulated within a technique.

Sam Solomon Staff - 8 years, 2 months ago

Yeah that is good because I got a problem wrong and now I can't correct it so thanks :)

When i solved prime factorization basic set 1, and then i went to basic set 2, it said something like recruit more friends, also, i would like to tell that if it has something related to facebook, then plz remove it, as i m not an user.

Garvil Singhal - 8 years, 2 months ago

That is absolutely correct, as I do not have a facebook also and the people who do have a clear advantage.

Wow!! It's awesome!!!!! Please!!Please!! do something similar for physics too......

Saurabh Dubey - 8 years, 1 month ago

It's beautiful, I love the new Core Math section! Thank you guys so much! :D

Rohan Rao - 8 years, 2 months ago

This is fantastic.Thank you Brilliant team.

Siddharth Iyer - 8 years, 2 months ago

the problems are good though

Bob Yang - 8 years, 2 months ago

i was waiting for it........................ the waitss over thanxxxxxxxxxxxx brilliant thanxxxx a lot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ayushi Agrawal - 8 years, 2 months ago

tanx sir g?

Attain k Gupta - 8 years, 2 months ago

cool stuff..thanks. Needed it.

Priyankar Kumar - 8 years, 2 months ago

It is AWSOME, thank you so much.

Haroun Meghaichi - 8 years, 2 months ago

I like this . But Please remove recruit friends option

Mayank Kaushik - 8 years, 2 months ago

Yes

I think that this new section seems pretty legit. Although my main question would be: what exactly do stars do?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying like we need some prize system too. I mean like what exactly do stars signify? Can we get like a ranking board maybe, or something that will actually give the stars some sort of meaning? Otherwise I look at the number of stars, and it doesn't mean anything. Whereas with the points system, I can sort of quantify it; you know what I mean?

Matt Wang - 8 years, 1 month ago

thank you so much for the changes you've made,,,this is really better compared to the old format,,,hehehe

Mervin Bueno - 8 years, 1 month ago

What is going on?? Where is Calculus & Trigonometry section?? I don't like this facebook integration.

Joseph Gomes - 8 years, 1 month ago

I like it

shaheed vh - 8 years, 2 months ago

the questions are fun, but

I HATE FACEBOOK

same here.

does it mean that i wont be able to do sums after set 1??

Nikhil TR - 8 years, 2 months ago

@Nikhil Tr – yes, which is REALLY annoying because then if I get it wrong I don't get a second chance while facebookers get a 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th chance to get the star. Now that is not optimal.

@Bob Yang – exactly and i m feeling bad since othrs are able to get 3 stars due to there multiple chances

A Former Brilliant Member - 8 years, 1 month ago

Wow, I think, It is the greatest work, Brilliant. Nice, I can do more the practise for Math... :)) Thank you very much, Brilliant!! Like it!!

Andrias Meisyal - 8 years, 2 months ago

This is Awesome thanks

Akhil Thampy - 8 years, 2 months ago

So basically now we can't change our current curriculum maths level? :(

Tùng Nguyễn Minh - 8 years, 2 months ago

That is correct. We decided that the levels of curriculum math are confusing in relation to levels of olympiad math. For example level five of number theory and algebra is way harder than level five of algebra and trigonometry. For these reasons we decided levels make sense for the olympiad challenges but stars made more sense for the new Core math section. You will notice that very soon the curriculum math levels will disappear from your profile.

Recent users like me don't even get to KNOW our levels. =))

Isaac Miguel Gocuyo - 8 years, 2 months ago

I love it!

hey...this isnt fair....i hate using fb and i had to reactivate my account.....isn't there any other way ?

Same here. Which dum person came up with this idea???

GOD knows!

Will there be no problems in core mathematics that will award points?

Advitiya Brijesh - 8 years, 2 months ago

For the time being that is correct.

How soon will you be including the training for more complicated topics, such as double integrals?

Maher El Ghor - 8 years, 2 months ago

Why is it that i don't have access to all the techniques. Most of my algebra is closed along with whole integration and differentiation......

Sir, I didn't get 3 stars on completing advanced level. It was said that I will get 3 stars but I didn't get it.

i luv math, like omg

Barnaby Gaylord - 8 years, 1 month ago

sincerely, I preferred the old "currilculum math".The problems in the new core mathematics are way less interesting, and this recruiting friends mechanism just didn't made me happy. sorry for saying that, you must've had a lot of trouble in doing that change.... I sugest you to mantain both core and curriculum mathematics

Are the stars that we earn eligible to redeem prizes like the points are in the olympiad section?

Michael Tang - 8 years, 2 months ago

Currently, the stars are not redeemable for prizes on the points exchange. We mostly intend them to be a way you can keep track of what you have done.

Peter Taylor Staff - 8 years, 2 months ago

Thanks peter sir and all the staff of brilliant its a good thing

Karan Kewalramani - 8 years, 1 month ago

Would I get only one star when I have completed the advanced level? If not, I didn't get 3 stars after completing the advanced level.

A Former Brilliant Member - 8 years, 2 months ago

You should get all 3 stars directly on doing the Advanced Level.

Hi Brilliant, can I know when does the problems in this section will expire? It mention do not expire at the end of the week. So, it is going to end in the second week?? Thanks :D

Edward Chen - 8 years, 1 month ago

I think this is great

I DON'T EVEN HAVE A FACEBOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE WHEN THE SETS THAT ARE LOCKED FROM ME FOREVER IT JUST SAYS YOU NEED TO RECRUIT MORE FRIENDS?!??!??!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

it's all the @\&%#* invites and stuff which is a TOTALLY STUPID idea :(

Ashish Gupta - 8 years, 1 month ago

boring

Nguyễn Lễ - 8 years, 1 month ago

HOW DO YOU RECRUIT FRIENDS??? I RAGE AT THE SIGHT OF SET TWO OF NUMBER SET LOCKED!!!
:(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((9

i am an exterminator of facebookism but now brilliant is exterminatin me

superman son - 8 years, 2 months ago

so facebook is a pain

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `\(` ... `\)` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$