Work through an engineering or math calculation step by step
A fully worked solution with every formula, intermediate value, and a check, so you can follow and repeat it.
The prompt
Work through this calculation step by step so I can follow and repeat it.
Problem: [PASTE THE PROBLEM — e.g. "compute the MDCT of x(n) = [1, 2, 3, 4]", "find the beam deflection at midspan"]
Given values and units: [VALUES]
Course or context: [e.g. "signals and systems", "statics", "thermodynamics"]
Method required, if any: [e.g. "use the definition, not a library function"]
My level: [what I already know]
Structure the answer:
1. Identify: what is being asked, the knowns, unknowns, and any sizes or parameters (e.g. N, 2N, boundary conditions).
2. Formula: the governing equation with every symbol defined, and why it applies.
3. Substitution: plug in values one step at a time. When there are many repeated terms (sums, matrices, cosine or sine values), show them in a table so nothing is hidden.
4. Result: the final answer with units and sensible rounding.
5. Check: a sanity test — dimensions, a limiting case, symmetry, an estimate, or a short code snippet I can run to verify.
6. Watch out for: the two or three mistakes students most often make on this type of problem.
Rules:
- Do not skip algebra or arithmetic steps.
- If the problem is ambiguous (conventions, normalization, index starting point), state the assumption and show how the answer would change.
- Then give me a similar practice problem with the answer only, so I can test myself.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Learning & Teaching prompts
What to fill in
- VALUES
- e.g. "signals and systems", "statics", "thermodynamics"
- e.g. "use the definition, not a library function"
- what I already know
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the Few-Shot structure (Few-shot prompting). A few-shot prompt includes one or more worked examples of the input and the output you want, so the model can copy the pattern instead of guessing it.
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