The realm of math and the simplicity within
Say you want to learn how to calculate anything but you don't know anything about math at all. Then I can provide very basic guidelines that will help you understand what math is and how to calculate anything.
First let's start at the very beginning, simply just counting is an act of math and it the root of everything that follows. Using positive Natural numbers, which are non 0 integers. And if you dont get what I mean I'll show you. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ect. Are all natural numbers.
"Well that's great and all but what if I want to go from 1 to 5 much quicker then counting every single step" Good question, this is when I'd inform you about addition. (For all purposes I'm going to keep using Natural integers) so you can take 1+4=5 or you can take another combination of values 2+3 for example also gets you 5.
"But what if I wanted to move backwards? Is that allowed?" Yes of course it is allowed, this oricess is called subtraction, which is the inverse of addition. Remeber with Subtraction you should start with the bigger value, for example 4-1=3 or 5-2=3 both of these represented expressions take a value from a preexisting value to make it smaller.
"Why can't I put the bigger number at the end?" Well technically you can, but you will get a negative integer. For example 3-5=-2 or 4-5=-1 this numbers are no longer natural because they are less then 0. And 0 is essentially what we would consider a "Neutral value" although not many will consider that to be true.
"So then does it matter in what order I add in? For the presented problems no it doesn't but keep that question in mind as it will be relevant in a little while.
"What if I wanted to add much faster then I can already?" Multiplication is repeated addition a concept that might take a little practice to completly familiarize yourself with. But here some examples as well as explanations following them. 2×3=6 5×1=5 4×3=12 for the first one 2×3=6 if you added 3 to itself 2 times 3+3 you would get six. If you did the opposite getting 3 2's and added them you'd still result at the same value 2+2+2=6. The second one 5×1=5 might confuse you but this is because any value multiplied by 1 is equal to the value. And the final one 4×3=12 is similar to the first one with larger numbers. 4+4+4=8+4=12 or 3+3+3+3=6+6=12
"Oh OK but what if I wanted to move backwards at the same speed?" This would be division, which is multiple subtractions happening at once. So lets look at it 12÷6=2 15/5=3 7/1=7 7/2=3.5 if none of that made sense to you let me explain. 12÷6=2 can be rewritten as 2×6=12 which is the same as 6+6=12. Same goes for the second equation 5×3=15 becase 5+5+5=15. But these next ones might be a little strange, we have a division problem that is equal to the biggest value? Yes, this only happens when dividing a value by 1. Now the extra confusing part why is there a dot in the last one? That dot is the decimal it is the point that breaks the whole values from the partial values. When dividing you do need to order the values correctly. If you dont you'll end up with an expression you aren't looking for. If I had decidied to divide 1 by 7 and not 7 by one I would have ended with 1/7. With 6/12=1/2 5/15=3 and 3.5/7=1/2.
"But what if I wanted to calculate faster forward then Multiplication allows for"? That is when we bring in Exponents. It is multiple Multiplication. This is a little of a challenging concept but 3^2 is 9. Because 3×3=9 because 3+3+3=9. 5^0=1, and 4^3=64 because 4×4×4=64 because 4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4=64. "Wait how is 5^0=1"? Ah good question, the Zero rule of exponents says any value raised to the power of 0 is 1. "Any value? What if it were negative or even 0?" Same process still applies 0^0=1 just as -12^0=1. "What if your power was 1?" So in an expression where you have something raised to the first power like this 4^1=1 it is similar to multiplying it by 1 and will equal the number it is giving power to. So technically all values without a determined power all have a preset power of 1.
"Oh OK but what if I wanted to move down like that?" So this is where we take the roots of values which is the opposite of expoenting them. It is easiest to root perfect square values. For example sqrt 36=6 because 6×6=36 because 6+6+6+6+6+6=36. A perfect square is a value whose expression is perfectly equal to a value N exponential raised to 2 (Discluding 0). But you can work with bigger Exponents, by taking the exponent and putting it before the symbol for rooting which is a radical. By putting a number equal to the value of the power raised by the number given you'll get a perfect value for instance 3root 27=3 because 3×3×3=27. Because 9+9+9=27