Wiki Writing Party: June 3 to June 16

Hello Brilliant Guys,

First, I want to congratulate all the wiki editors for their efforts that made our second wiki writing party even better than our first party, and I know this one can be even better! In the previous Wiki Writing Party, we were able to improve the wikis Parametric Equations, Implicit Differentiation, and Intercepts of Rational Functions. Some more work can be done on these two wikis of the previous party: Polynomial Inequalities and Perimeter.

For this party, we are focusing on these wikis:

$\textbf{This Week's Brilliant Wiki Skeletons}$
Square Roots
Rational Root Theorem
Conservative vs non-conservative forces
Interest Rate

How it Works

Every week, 4 to 6 wiki structures across different topics will be created and need your help. Each of these wikis have a completed introduction and several detailed headers that scope out the body of the article (I call them wiki skeletons because they have just the bare bones filled in). Over the course of the challenge, wiki writers such as yourself will add their knowledge to the wikis for others to read, comment, and share. Feel free to comment on this note with the wikis you want to help with so that others know who they'll be working with.

Our Goal

We want to complete each wiki skeleton before the challenge is over so that they can all be featured as our wiki of the day over the course of the following week. Many of you are talented writers, so we'd like to see you leave your mark on the Brilliant wiki library.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to be an expert on one of these wikis to participate?
You do not need to be an expert on any of the wiki topics to contribute to the challenge. You add what you know about a topic even if it's just a single sentence, a formula, an example you recently learned, or a relevant problem that inspired you.
Can I work on more than one wiki?
Absolutely.
Can I alter the structure of a wiki by adding headers that I think are relevant?
Yep. If you think a wiki skeleton is missing an important header, then you should add it!
What if I don't feel comfortable contributing to a wiki yet?
If you don't feel ready to contribute to a wiki, you can always add feedback to a wiki that's in progress. For more information on how to add feedback, watch my one minute tutorial.
What if I have other questions or comments?
That's exactly what this note is for. Post all your questions and comments here :)

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}

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

Thanks to all the contributors who helped to edit the wikis in the former party! I'm excited to roll down this party and see what we can achieve.

Sandeep Bhardwaj - 5 years ago

This is a very good idea, where do I see which wikis "need help", or can I write anything?

Hjalmar Orellana Soto - 5 years ago

Look above the topic "How it works". Those are the wiki writing topics of this fortnight.

Ashish Menon - 5 years ago

This party, we are focusing on the following wikis:

Square Roots

Rational Root Theorem

Conservative vs non-conservative forces

Interest Rate

You can help out any of these. Thanks!

Let me know if you need any kind of help and I'll be there assisting you.

@Sandeep Bhardwaj – Quick Questions. These wikis are typically written in language that assumes the reader already understands the wiki. For example, in the sentences:

"For a positive number , the principal square root can also be written in exponent notation as $y^{1/2}$ . However most problems are not as cut-and-dry as these examples. Many problems involve rationalization."

In these sentences, I know that the writer is referring to the square root being written with a rational exponent, but I teach math. The students that I send to brilliant to learn, review, and practice do not make this assumption. Hence, these sentences are ambiguous and confusing.

My question is if anyone would mind if some of us work on these assumptions for the sake of clarity? One of the largest issues that arise in the classroom is one of failing to meet a student at their level of understanding because they are assumed to know certain information.

Also, I assume the phrase "many problems involve rationalization" refers to the rationalization of exponents. Am I correct in this assumption?

E Tyson Ewing III - 5 years ago

@E Tyson Ewing Iii – @E Tyson Ewing III

Well, it's great to know that you're a teacher and you're concerned with the wikis. Because wikis are a great source for both the teacher and the student to learn and express what they've learnt.

Sometimes we have to assume that the reader knows the basics of the notion that we are talking about and sometimes not. For an example, if we talk about the quadratic equations, then we have to assume that the reader knows what an "equation" is.

And yes, if you are talking about the rationalization of exponents, then it's fine to assume(or mention) that many problems involve rationalization.

Feel free to mention about any assumptions that you think a student, seemingly, can't make.

I'm pretty excited about our engagement with the wikis. Thanks a lot!

@Sandeep Bhardwaj – I agree. My concerns lies more with the complexities of explanations in certain topics. Certainly the explanation using concatenation is great; however, if a person is trying to clarify square roots, concatenation may be too advanced a process or even a tangent point in an explanation.

I've been thinking about that part of the square root explanation and think maybe it would be more clearly and concisely conveyed using educated guesses and a drop down menu for the concatenation process.

Don't get me wrong. It's fascinating and I'll be working to fully use and understand it, personally. But it seems too deep for a person struggling to understand square roots.

@E Tyson Ewing Iii – Well, then check out the set:- Fun with exponents those are relevant.

@Ashish Menon – You misunderstand. I don't have an issue following what is being said. I'm saying that it may be hard for someone who is using this wiki to learn about square roots to follow what is being said. Make sense?

@E Tyson Ewing Iii – Oh!!! So, you mean the usage of terms is woerd right? Hmm... I am not the right person to help with grammar, I have to master it myself :P @Sandeep Bhardwaj can you please help this gentleman.

@Ashish Menon – No, I mean the base assumption is that a person already understands the topic they are reading about. Therefore, having the wiki would be an exercise in futility since it would only make sense for the class of people that wrote the wiki. I'd like to be able to continue to send my students to the page for help, but if the base assumption is more advanced than my students, they will waste their time reading the wiki. @Sandeep Bhardwaj

@E Tyson Ewing Iii – I think a better question is about the audience of these wikis. @Sandeep Bhardwaj, who do we expect to read these wikis?

I just read the section "Calculating Square Root" and was really confused. My confusion lies in the explanation of the process.

To put it simply, using the complex process of "... $\overline{abc}$ refers to concatenating $a$ , $b$ , and $c$ ..." may be far too advanced for someone trying to learn about square roots. Maybe the explanation should not rely so heavily on such terminology and processes. I'll add to the explanation and include a drop-down for those that want to get into concatenating. LOL. Deal, @Ashish Siva?

@E Tyson Ewing Iii – Lol yeah

@E Tyson Ewing Iii – Hmm, ok I get it, means the explanation is far too advanced. Ok I shall try my best to clean up that in a bit.

@Ashish Menon – I'm working on that now. But I've never seen this method before and step 4 is confusing. I don't see in your explanation where the 76 came from in the line where you are subtracting 4976 from 5600. Please explain that and maybe we can work together on cleaning this up.

@E Tyson Ewing Iii – This content was not added by me, so I will have 4o review it. Yeah, I will try my best.

@Ashish Menon – Sup @Ashish Siva and @E Tyson Ewing III!

Brilliant.org has a slack account where people will chat and discuss about a problem or wiki. It's free to join and far more convenient than having a conversation in this note. Count me in for the cleaning process!

Christopher Boo - 5 years ago

@E Tyson Ewing Iii – Wait, what has he written?!?! Its confusing, ah I see what you point out.

@Ashish Menon – I just updated it for my last time tonight. I left step 4 unchanged since I have not idea how to use it. There is a gap between the "ka" process and the number 76. The 76 doesn't seem to be produced by that process. Good luck. It's 4 am here and I only signed on to see what @Calvin Lin invited me to.

@E Tyson Ewing Iii – Yeah goodnight.

@E Tyson Ewing Iii – It should be OK now, I have provided step-by-step details of the 4th step there is clarifies the whole process (hopefully).

Hello buddies,

The interest shown by you guys has boosted me up to have more discussions about the wikis of this party and improve them further. So, I've managed to arrange the slack chat sessions for us to chat and work through these wikis. The schedule for the sessions is:

Square Roots wiki - 13 June 2016 at 9:30pm IST/9:00am PST

Interest Rate wiki - 14 June 8:30pm IST/8:00am PST

Rational Root Theorem wiki - 15 June at 9:30pm IST/9:00am PST

Conservative vs non-conservative forces wiki - 16 June at 9:30pm IST/9:00am PST

Excited to see you at Brilliant-Lounge at the schedule timings Thanks a lot!

Added to my calendar. I'll be joining all 4!

Great! I'm pretty excited. :-)

A lot of thanks to @Deeparaj Bhat, @Ashish Siva and @Sharky Kesa for their amazing work on "square roots" wiki.

The wiki is about to complete. Let's put some more efforts and flag this wiki as a great wiki.

Thanks! :)

A Former Brilliant Member - 5 years ago

:) thanks! :)

What are thoughts about the other wikis of the party?

I guess, "interest rate" can be our next target. That wiki needs content and examples and try yourself problems. Let me try adding some try yourself problems to the wiki.

@Sandeep Bhardwaj – Sure.

@Ashish Menon – I've started filling in the content to interest rate wiki. :-) You can accompany me. ;)

@Sandeep Bhardwaj – I have started filling in :)

@Ashish Menon – Great! I love the work you do. It's so neat and clean and up to the mark. Keep at it. :-)

@Sandeep Bhardwaj – ʕ•ٹ•ʔ happy to know

@Sandeep Bhardwaj – Can you please give an example on continously compounded interest? What is new in it?

@Ashish Menon – I've added some content to the section. You can check that out to know the difference.

Let me know if you're still unclear on that. Thanks!

@Sandeep Bhardwaj – Its clear now. Lol continuously compounded interest. The name seemed wierd to me first. I learnt it as non-constant compound interest. :P

@Ashish Menon – hahaha...Continuously Compounded Interest is a great thing when you are earning it. Remember to use this concept in the real life when you get such an opportunity. ;)

@Sandeep Bhardwaj – Ofcpurse yes

I'd like to help with "Square Roots."

I'm eager to see where we make the "square roots" wiki land! Whenever you make any edits to the wiki, let me know and I can give you the feedback.

Thanks for your willingness and efforts.

I will. Thanks.

@E Tyson Ewing III

We are having chat sessions to work on these wikis, you should join us. You can catch us at Brilliant-Lounge.

The schedule for the next meeting is - 14 June 8:30pm IST/8:00am PST and we will be collaborating the Interest Rate wiki. Hope to see you over there.

Thanks!

I contributed to the square roots wiki (My First Ever and also i just contributed a problem). Thanks to @Calvin Lin for inviting me.

abc xyz - 5 years ago

Congrats :) :)

@abc xyz

First of all, congratulations for you've taken your first step to editing wikis because even a journey of miles starts with taking a single step. Feel free to ping me if you need any kind of help. I'm always glad to help someone.

And thanks a lot for your contribution to the wiki and I'm looking for more great efforts on your side.

Yeah actually I was editing the Interest Rates Wiki. But the latex got the better of me ! So I just need some help with the Wiki Latex as it is so different from the normal problem posting. So should I post my latex code here so you can check it ?

Also thanks for the appreciation Sandeep Bhardwaj and Ashish Siva !!!

@Abc Xyz – Hey @abc xyz, this is a good source for learning LaTeX. Alternatively, feel free to write it on a paper and post it here and I'll generate the LaTeX code for ya!

@Christopher Boo – I want to know the syntax for writing an example Coz when I put the begin align inside it the words "begin align " come in my solution

@Abc Xyz – To write an example, just write everything between [[start-example]] and [[end-example]]. Alternatively, just click the 'edit' button and see how other people do it.

Hey @abc xyz We are having chat sessions to work on these wikis, you should join us. You can catch us at Brilliant-Lounge.

OK Sure but I'll be there but a little late as I have classes till 9 pm !!!

Thanks for inviting me !!!

Hey but it won't let me sign in it says: Sorry, you entered an incorrect email address or password. Pl help

@Abc Xyz – Make sure that you've signed up for that website. If you've not done that, first register yourself by signing up and then sign in.

Let me know if you still have issues.

@Sandeep Bhardwaj – Yeah it says that i need an invitation from an administrator Pl help

Hi guys! Is it okay to add an example in the topic "Square Roots"? The problem is about rationalization of a fraction in the form

$\frac{1}{a + \sqrt{b} + \sqrt{c}}$ .

But I think it's already complete so I find this a little bit extraneous.

Rindell Mabunga - 5 years ago

Yes, you're right. We already have enough examples regards to rationalization. But yeah, you can definitely add this example in the form of a try yourself problem. That's will be great as we don't have try yourself problems in that section.

@Rindell Mabunga – Nice Try It Yourself problem added there @Rindell Mabunga, it sure makes new learner think for a while in order to approach that. Your solution is also pretty nicely written and formatted, it would be perfect if you add alignments!

@Christopher Boo – Thanks

@Rindell Mabunga

You can contribute examples/problems/content to other wikis of this party too.

If you've any questions/queries, feel free to ask. Thanks!

@Sandeep Bhardwaj what type of examples are relevant for the last two sections of the interest rate wiki.

Simply asking for the interest rate and the amount to be figured out.

Ohhok, thanks!

@Sandeep Bhardwaj I have added square root of complex numbers to square root wiki. Make it better if you can.

Prince Loomba - 5 years ago

Cool! I'll think of an example or Try It Yourself problem to add on that section.

Ok thanks

Also add example using eulers formula if you can

That's great! I was thinking of a separate section on the square root of complex numbers. And you just did. I'm impressed. Thanks a lot!

Your welcome. I did this because I like complex no.

@Prince Loomba

I've added a try it yourself problem just after the first examples in the section - square root of complex numbers. :-)

Thanks @Sharky Kesa for your amazing work you've done on the square roots wiki. I liked the way you presented the method and you explained the steps very nicely such that everyone can understand that very easily.

It's going to be amazing if there are some try yourself problems in that section. Thanks!

Thanks to @Deeparaj Bhat too for the "method of calculating square roots". That's an idea that can get people interested in the numerical process of doing so.

Calvin Lin Staff - 5 years ago

Happy to know this. :)

@A Former Brilliant Member – A ton of thanks, Deeparaj, for your great efforts to square roots wiki!

how can i join in this wiki writing party . please , give me necessary steps.

Tushar Showrav - 5 years ago

These are the wiki topics of this week. You can add anything you know in it even if it is a spelling mistake! Everyone is welcome. You can start editing it right away, cheers!

thanks

@Tushar Showrav

I'm glad to know about your willingness to working with wikis. I can, definitely, help you get started. You should read this note/discussion to get a better sense of how this work.

Which wiki are you interested in working with?

If you answer this question, then I can assist you with what you can do with explicit guidelines to get started. Thanks!

iam very excited !!!!!!!!!!! as this is my first time being the part of it .............need to learn some things and see some examples......

Shree Tej - 5 years ago

Cool, looking forward for your edits :)

but i didnot understand how to..........................by the way my age is not 52...iam just 15

@Shree Tej – Fixed.

Silas Hundt Staff - 5 years ago

@Shree Tej – Again, if you want help in determining how to edit a wiki on brilliant, you can watch this one-minute tutorial.

@Shree Tej – Hehe, it happened with me too. I am writing the explanation. @Silas Hundt please update this gentleman's age.

@Shree Tej

If you answer this question, then I can assist you with what you can do with explicit guidelines to get started.

i didnot understand how to post a wiki.......can any one help me out...because this is my first time........i need some steps...to go further

If you are trying to publish a new wiki which is not a part of the current party's topic list then, navigate over to the publish button on the right side of your screen. Then navigate to wiki button at the top of your screen. Then a place for creating a wiki opens up. If you need to know which wikis ned writers or feedback or examples click on their respective buttons. Here is a picture to help you locate the buttons.

Ashish has already explained very well about posting a wiki. Thanks @Ashish Siva for replying to mention[1020699:Shree Tej]'s query.

But at this point, I would recommend working on the wikis that are listed for this party and from here you can grab a better understanding of editing wikis. And then you can create the new wikis if you feel a need for any and that doesn't already exist.

If you've any questions/queries, feel free to ask me. You can put your comments on this note.

I'm excited about getting you start editing the wikis and becoming more familiar with them. Thanks a lot!

@Sandeep Bhardwaj can you plz have a look at the proof I added in interest wiki.

Great! I just looked at the proof, and it was quite neat and complete as usual with your content. I'm quite happy. Thanks for your genuine efforts.

Hehe thanks, I came up with that while writing an example.

@Ashish Siva

I think the interest rate wikis will be almost complete if we have "try yourself" problems throughout the page. Let's see if we can publish some great problems relevant to the wiki and help the wiki to get accomplished.

Thanks a lot!

Yeah, I just added some problems on it.

The last two sections have not been filled up as yet. But, I dont get any relevant example for them.
Another question:- If I make a try it yourself questioj which is relevant for both simple interest and compound interest, in which section should I place it?
Another one:- Should the full process of compound interest be explained in an example? I mean without using the formula.

Which proof have you added? Is it the one in the compound interest section? I expected the proof to be shorter. Isn't it just that each year we need to multiply the amount we had last year by $(1+\frac{R}{100})$ ? So we can immediately get to the conclusion that after the $n$ -th year the total amount we have is $P(1+\frac{R}{100})^n$ ? Did I made too much assumption?

I don't see the need of the tedious case works?

I donyt see a shoter proof. Can you plz add it in the wiki if u know? :)

What to add in last 2 sections of wiki interest rate

I think those two sections are just rate and rate+principal. So just add some simple examples and try yourself problems asking for evaluating the rate of interest given are the other parameters.

I will try to add something to these sections. You can company me. :-)

Ofcourse yes :)

I think we can restructure the titles on Conservative and non-conservative forces, because we can start talking about Mechanical Energy, show the relation between mechanical energy and work and finally define conservative and non-conservative forces as conservative force's work doesn't depend on the path they take to move a particle and non-conervative force's work depend on the path..... Any ideas about??

I'm thinking of editing that wiki too but had no idea how to start. Can you explain more? How would your title looks like?

Now I wrote an "example" of conservavtive force, at first I have the idea of complete what's missing on the wiki, and after it change some things, what do you think?

@Hjalmar Orellana Soto – That example is good, we can with this together. What do you think we can add more?

@Hjalmar Orellana Soto

Feel free to restructure the titles and organize the page as you want if you've a good sense of what's relevant. To start with, I think the first section should be kind of difference between conservative and non-conservative forces with some great examples.

Can we use differential equations for proving some facts in physics wikis?

Certainly!

Yes, you can definitely use.

I guess that you're talking about this wiki:- conservative vs non-conservative forces. I'm highly excited to see this wiki a great one.

Ping me if you need any kind of help or guidance. Thanks!

Hey :)

Can you please add 1-2 examples to the problem-solving section of the Rational Root Theorem wiki? And 1 relevant try yourself problem is also needed in the section named as "Integer Corollary".

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}`	$\boxed{123}$