Sometimes You Need To See Maths To Understand It

One of the frustrating things about learning maths is that sometimes you can follow every step of a solution without really understanding whats going on. You might know exactly which formula to use, how to do the algebra and end up with the right answer, but you couldn't explain why it works.

This is where visual maths videos on YouTube can be incredible helpful.

There are some great videos out there that explain mathematical concepts through diagrams, animations and visual proofs rather than pages of algebra. Topics like completing the square, the unit circle, Pythagoras' theorem, Pascal's triangle and binomial coefficients can all make a lot more sense when you actualy see the ideas behind them.

I reckon these videos are particularly useful at two different stages of learning.

The first is before you've even started a topic. Watching a five-minute animatiuon showing why the Pythagorean theorm works, or how Pascal's triangle connections to expanding polynomials, can spark some curiosity in students. You might not understand all of the maths yet, but at least you've got an idea of what you're working towards.

The second is once you've finished going through a topic. After spending a couple of weeks working through algebra-heavy questions, it's easy to get caught up in memorising methods and forget what they actually mean. Revisitng a visual explanantion can help tie everything together and give some meaning to all that working out.

Of course, watching YouTube isn't a replacement for practising questions, nor is it comparable to an in person tutoring session.

But sometimes seeing something explained differently is all it takes for the maths to finally click.

If you're interested in giving this a crack, below are some great videos to start with:
- Completing the Square by Mathematical Visual Proofs
- Trig Visualised: One Diagram to Rule Them All by Mathematical Visual Proofs
- Pythagorean Theorem: Six Proofs by Beau Janzen
- Binomial Distributions: Probabilities of Proabilities by 3Blue1Brown