Autist Tries Math


                                            I'm autistic.


                                            I haven't done much, nor have had much interest in math for a long while; if not never.


                                            But alas, for some reason, 15's math talking on the night of the 20th made me more interested and wanting to learn than I have in years.


                                            So I, with my new-found motivation, will try my best with the knowledge I still have to finish this hard Rainbow Dash question he asked the TF2 server:


                                            >Rainbow dash starts off on a plane, not a circle.

                                            >She takes off in some direction in a straight path.

                                            >She moves √5/5 units before the circle, then √5 units, and then 3√5/2 units.

                                            >What distance will Rainbow Dash travel before she crosses another circle?


                                            To all math-lovers, including 15: I'm sorry.


                                            First, I tried adding the numbers I'm given together. The first and last numbers have the same denominator, so I added them up to: 4√5/5. I then cross-multiplied them both so I can easily add them together. I don't know if this is what should be done, but that's what I remember! This comes up to 5√5 + 4√5.


                                            Due to having the same radical at this point, I add them all up to 9√5: The assumed distance between the original point and the end of the first circle.


                                            ... Yeah. I actually don't know if I should assume that, as the original question never said something like "[blah] units before circle, [blah] units during circle, [blah] units after circle." It just said "before crossing the circle" for the first unit, and then continued with the rest.


                                            Math throws weird curveballs like that, but doing the best I can is fine for now.


                                            What next? Well, since it mentions circles, I decided to plug in all the circle formulas I know to try to get a move on.


                                            This means finding the Circumference, Area, and Diameter of the presumed first circle.

                                            Used Website for formulas: https://www.cuemath.com/all-circle-formulas/


                                            Going by the logic that the first unit is before, and the last two are inside the first circle-- that means I can find the diameter by adding the two units together: D = √5 + 3√5/5.


                                            Due to not being able to do much, I try with the best knowledge I have in hand and cross-multiply once again like an asshole. That brings it to: 5√5 + 3√5.


                                            That equals to: D = 8√5.


                                            With the diameter, I can then find the radius by simply dividing it by 2: 8√5/2 = 4√5, because if it has a whole number with a radical, it only divides that whole number.


                                            I now try the remaining two formulas. Area's formula is πr², so it came out as: A = π(4√5)²

                                            (4√5)² is technically just (4√5)(4√5), so I did that. This got rid of the radicals and came out to a nice number of 80. Sadly, π ruined it, as it always does. Plugging everything in gave me 251.32741. Rounding by the thousand it becomes 251.33, just cuz.


                                            Circumference's formula is 2(πr). π * 4√5 = 28.09925, rounded into 28.10. Multiplying it by 2 gives us: 56.20.


                                            Now I have all of the circle number things, but alas I still was confused, so I went digging for some more formulas!


                                            This problem is related to distance, as it tells us to find the distance needed to travel from the beginning to another circle-- so I decided to try plugging in the distance formula.


                                            This included points.

                                            I don't have points.


                                            So I decided to get some help by searching it up on Google.

                                            Oh, oh google. I tolerate you so.


                                            Using a link which probably didn't help my situation in the long run: https://www.wyzant.com/resources/answers/270773/


                                            I used the formula given by Stephen M. There are two formulas, so I just try getting the answers to both to see where it took me.


                                            He says that the distance formula is basically a restatement of the Pythagorean theorem, so he gets that and branches from there. He first gives us the formula of: (change in x)² + (change in y)² = (distance)². Let's do that first!


                                            As taken from the question, Rainbow Dash (bless her soul) only crosses circles-- she never does them. She goes on a straight path. This means no change of the Y, which is presumed up and down-- meaning I can plug in 0, making it go away.


                                            I perceived "change of x" as "distance between first point and last point." This means I can plug in the sum of the three numbers from before, 9√5! Or at least, probably.


                                            These suggestions bring the formula to: (9√5)² = distance². (9√5)² like before, is basically (9√5)(9√5). This becomes a nice, big number of 405. This number is then squared, as we have to get rid of the distance's ².


                                            √405 becomes 20.12461, which rounded turns to 20.15. This means that the assumed distance between the original point where Rainbow Dash (boop her snoot) and the end of the first circle is 20.15 units.


                                            That felt nice, didn't it? Well, we still have one more formula to go!

                                            Stephen then tells us to square root the sum of the change of x and the change of y. Since Y doesn't exist, I only have to square it! √(9√5) = 4.48604, which rounds to 4.49.


                                            So, let's collect all our numbers!


                                            >All of the given number's sum: 9√5

                                            >Presumed Diameter of first circle: 8√5

                                            >Presumed Area of first circle: 251.33

                                            >Presumed Circumference of first circle: 56.20

                                            >Stephen's first formula, Pythagorean theorem?: 20.15

                                            >Stephen's second formula, Presumed distance between original point and end of first circle: 4.49 units.


                                            ...


                                            Let's look at the problems of what I just did without knowing the true answer to the question!


                                            If the presumed distance between the original point and the end of the first circle is 4.49 units, then why would plugging in Stephen's second formula be smaller than the simplified version of 9√5?


                                            WHY DID I EVEN TRY TO DO IT WHEN I ALREADY KNEW THE ANSWER? DID I FORGET?!

                                            IT WAS MEANT FOR GRAPHS, TOO! I WAS JUST DESPERATELY TRYING TO PLUG SHIT IN AT THAT POINT.


                                            The first one doesn't do anything either, as that just re-confirms that the distance taken from the three numbers is 20.15... which is I guess nice to think about.


                                            I do believe what I put for the Diameter, Area, and Circumference are correct-- but that relies on unknown knowledge. As I've said earlier, it implies that the last two units listed in the problem are the diameter of the first circle Rainbow Dash (the crusty cunt) flies through.


                                            I based this assumption by the fact that only the first listed unit was said to be "before the circle." I didn't know where to go from there, as the use of the word "then" for the following two units threw me into a frenzy of confusion. In the future, I shall learn the meaning of words!


                                            (And even if instead, it implied she flew the summed' distance before the first circle-- I have no idea where I'd go from there with my current state of math memory.)


                                            From these obvious problems I have witnessed from the palm of hand, I give these words: I give up (for now). I think I'll just ask somebody here to try to attempt it themselves; it'd be very appreciative.


                                            As unbelieving as it may seem based upon my rant: I did actually enjoy my attempt at math. I might have failed completely, but trying my best to do it (while also writing my experience) made my interest in math spike up by, like, 20% and more.


                                            Thanks, 15. I think I'll start teaching myself math a bit more as a hobby because of you. :^)