{"id":5781,"date":"2016-07-19T18:03:45","date_gmt":"2016-07-19T18:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/macroeconomics\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=5781"},"modified":"2016-07-19T18:03:45","modified_gmt":"2016-07-19T18:03:45","slug":"outcome-math-in-economics","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/chapter\/outcome-math-in-economics\/","title":{"raw":"Outcome: Math in Economics","rendered":"Outcome: Math in Economics"},"content":{"raw":"<h2>What you'll learn to do: use mathematics in common economic applications<\/h2>\nEconomists use math as a tool for manipulating and exploring economic models. Sometimes it makes sense to express economic ideas in words; other times,\u00a0math does a better job. What I would like to see is a statement that models can be articulated in different ways from verbal to mathematical. Economics is not math, but rather math is a tool for presenting and manipulating\/exploring\/using economic models. Many economic models use math to explain cause and effect. Don\u2019t worry, though: \u00a0We\u2019re going to cover all the math you need to solve the problems in this course.\n\nThis\u00a0section provides a quick review of some basic math (so you can avoid common errors) and then introduces the mathematical concepts you\u2019ll need throughout the course. Don\u2019t forget: return to this section later on if you encounter math that you can\u2019t follow.\n\nSome students, when they find out\u00a0that economics involves math, fear that the math\u00a0will trip them up and prevent their success in the course\u2014\u201cI\u2019m not a math person!\u201d they think. If you share these thoughts, it may surprise you to know there's scientific research showing that when you\u00a0practice new ways of thinking, your\u00a0brain physically\u00a0changes and adapts. Essentially, there\u2019s no such thing as \u201ca math person\u201d (or an \"economics person\"). You don't need a special talent or aptitude.\u00a0It's mainly\u00a0a matter of practice, hard work, and training your brain. The more you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells connect to one\u00a0another and the stronger those connections become.\n\nSo, how do you actually develop\u00a0your brain and succeed in this kind of course? We asked some former students to tell us their advice for success. They said it was most important to\n<ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do the practice problems in the course.<\/li>\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask questions.<\/li>\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Study your mistakes.<\/li>\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Explain the ideas to yourself in different ways until they are clear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nYou will need to learn new things to pass this class, and you should expect it to feel hard as you wrestle with unfamiliar ideas and new ways of thinking. Don't give up, though! The feeling of struggling is a normal part of how the\u00a0brain gets stronger when it learns things.\n\nThe specific things you\u2019ll learn in this section include the following:\n<ul id=\"fs-idp9396560\"><li>Use an equation to understand the impact of changing economic variables<\/li>\n\t<li>Explain how functions describe cause and effect<\/li>\n<\/ul><h3>Learning Activities<\/h3>\nThe learning activities for this section include the following:\n<ul><li class=\"chapter type-1\">Reading: Purpose of Functions<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"chapter type-1\">Reading: Solving Simple Equations<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"chapter type-1\">Self Check: Math in Economics<\/li>\n<\/ul><section id=\"fs-idp12777936\" data-depth=\"1\"><div id=\"fs-idp100824704\" class=\"equation\" data-type=\"equation\"\/>\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idm123376288\" data-depth=\"1\"\/>","rendered":"<h2>What you&#8217;ll learn to do: use mathematics in common economic applications<\/h2>\n<p>Economists use math as a tool for manipulating and exploring economic models. Sometimes it makes sense to express economic ideas in words; other times,\u00a0math does a better job. What I would like to see is a statement that models can be articulated in different ways from verbal to mathematical. Economics is not math, but rather math is a tool for presenting and manipulating\/exploring\/using economic models. Many economic models use math to explain cause and effect. Don\u2019t worry, though: \u00a0We\u2019re going to cover all the math you need to solve the problems in this course.<\/p>\n<p>This\u00a0section provides a quick review of some basic math (so you can avoid common errors) and then introduces the mathematical concepts you\u2019ll need throughout the course. Don\u2019t forget: return to this section later on if you encounter math that you can\u2019t follow.<\/p>\n<p>Some students, when they find out\u00a0that economics involves math, fear that the math\u00a0will trip them up and prevent their success in the course\u2014\u201cI\u2019m not a math person!\u201d they think. If you share these thoughts, it may surprise you to know there&#8217;s scientific research showing that when you\u00a0practice new ways of thinking, your\u00a0brain physically\u00a0changes and adapts. Essentially, there\u2019s no such thing as \u201ca math person\u201d (or an &#8220;economics person&#8221;). You don&#8217;t need a special talent or aptitude.\u00a0It&#8217;s mainly\u00a0a matter of practice, hard work, and training your brain. The more you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells connect to one\u00a0another and the stronger those connections become.<\/p>\n<p>So, how do you actually develop\u00a0your brain and succeed in this kind of course? We asked some former students to tell us their advice for success. They said it was most important to<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do the practice problems in the course.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask questions.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Study your mistakes.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Explain the ideas to yourself in different ways until they are clear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You will need to learn new things to pass this class, and you should expect it to feel hard as you wrestle with unfamiliar ideas and new ways of thinking. Don&#8217;t give up, though! The feeling of struggling is a normal part of how the\u00a0brain gets stronger when it learns things.<\/p>\n<p>The specific things you\u2019ll learn in this section include the following:<\/p>\n<ul id=\"fs-idp9396560\">\n<li>Use an equation to understand the impact of changing economic variables<\/li>\n<li>Explain how functions describe cause and effect<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Learning Activities<\/h3>\n<p>The learning activities for this section include the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"chapter type-1\">Reading: Purpose of Functions<\/li>\n<li class=\"chapter type-1\">Reading: Solving Simple Equations<\/li>\n<li class=\"chapter type-1\">Self Check: Math in Economics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<section id=\"fs-idp12777936\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<div id=\"fs-idp100824704\" class=\"equation\" data-type=\"equation\">\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idm123376288\" data-depth=\"1\"><\/section>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-5781\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Outcome: Math in Economics. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":18,"menu_order":12,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Outcome: Math in Economics\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-5781","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":5757,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/5781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/5781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6057,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/5781\/revisions\/6057"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/5757"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/5781\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=5781"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=5781"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-macroeconomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=5781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}