Rules for a clean write-up

Once you have chosen the route, you carry it out. This is the stage where you do the calculations or write the proof. It seems the most “mechanical” part of the work, yet it too has its rules.

In brief — Rules for a clean write-up

1. One step at a time. Do not skip lines. Better to write too much than too little.
2. Justify every important step. It is not enough to write ”$3x = 15$, therefore $x=5$”; also write which rule you used (“I divide both sides by $3$, by the second principle of equivalence”).
3. Use symbols consistently. If you have called $x$ the base of the rectangle, do not change it halfway through the exercise.
4. If you reach something strange, stop. An absurd equality like $0=5$, or an angle of $200°$, means there is a mistake earlier: better to notice it straight away.

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Topics: Working method
Concepts: Problem solving · Write-up
Skills: Calculating