Ask a Math Question

Please read this entire page carefully if you want me to help you.

If you have a math question, I will do my best to help you. Remember that the focus of this site is on older students who are struggling with the math required to graduate high school, or earn a GED, or similar. If you are a younger student, or an older student doing calculus or higher-level math, please seek out an alternative form of help. Please do not submit "math puzzles" or any other non-curriculum questions. My efforts are to help those who truly need help with their actual coursework.

Please use the form below to submit your question, along with your description of what aspect of the question you are having trouble with. If I feel that your question will benefit other readers, I will post the question and the answer on this website, keeping your name and e-mail address strictly confidential. No question is ever "stupid," and I will certainly not belittle or embarrass you in any way because of the question that you asked. Remember, smart people ask questions, but sometimes stupid or insecure people laugh at those who do, even though they probably had the exact same question.

Make sure that you use proper notation to clearly describe your problem, and not leave any ambiguities. Use abundant parentheses and brackets so that it is clear what is in the numerator and denominator, or what is being raised to a given power, etc. For example, don't submit something that looks like:
4x^2/5-x+3/sqrt3/2+1. It is impossible to know how this problem originally looked. You need to use parentheses and brackets to clarify it, perhaps along with a written description so that there are no doubts.

Please note that if you totally do not understand the material, and if you are completely lost, then my answer to your question will not make any sense to you. Please don't send me e-mails such as, "I need to know how to solve equations." No one can provide you with a "miracle explanation" that will instantly make the whole topic clear. If you are very far behind in math, please speak with your teacher or guidance counselor about the best way of getting the help that you need.

I will not answer questions that are an attempt to have me do your homework for you.
You need to describe to me either what you have done to try to solve the problem on your own, or where you are getting stuck, or what aspect of the problem is confusing for you.
Without this, I will not answer the question, and you are wasting your time by submitting it.

I will try my best to answer all questions, but I cannot guarantee an answer to every question. The average response time is about 12 hours.