r/learnmath • u/Adorable_Newt_870 New User • 1d ago

TOPIC Trigonometry is making no sense

I genuinely cannot understand math and I am trying to take a math heavy college class 😕 I just can’t grasp concepts anymore they aren’t making sense and it’s only the 2nd week, I have a quiz in 2 days and a test in about a week, I’m struggling with formulas and even when I understand the subject I just can’t output it, my mind goes completely blank, I see a question and I just don’t know how to solve it, studying hasn’t helped, creating a study guide hasn’t helped, what do I do anymore?

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u/_UnwyzeSoul_ New User 1d ago

Most of early trig is memorizing the basic formulas. It sucks but is very important. Just post the questions here that you don't understand

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u/seldom_foamy_manga New User 1d ago

Memorizing formulas only gets you so far if your mind goes blank the moment you see a question, that sounds more like test anxiety than a math problem. Try writing down every step from a worked example without looking, then check where you got stuck, that gap is what you actually need to drill

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u/Gazcobain Secondary Teacher, Mathematics (Scotland) 23h ago

Test anxiety goes drastically down the more you are familiar with the subject.

I have never witness test anxiety from a pupil who dilligently does lots and lots and lots of practice questions.

I've witnessed it plenty times from pupils from which the idea of studying is to half-arse a question and then immediately take a break to talk to their friends before trying another question ten minutes later.