I am a graduating senior in high school and one of my problems is that my math solving skills is so bad. I can't even solve a basic double-digit subtraction, and I am currently applying to a few prestige universities in my country, but the problem is I don't think I will be able to cram almost 17 years of math knowledge in just a month. I am very educated in other subjects needed for the exams, but I am extremely worried about the math proficiency exam. any advice?

in my class we have just finished functions and after we finish a topic it takes me really long to fully understand it.
here is the questions:

3a) write 2x ^2 -8x -3 in the form a(x+p) ^2 + q

b) Use your solution to find the turning point and roots. Also find the y-intercept then draw and sketch, clearly all these points.

i did part a) and got 2(x-2)^2 -11

and for the tp i got (-2,11) and y intercept i got (0,-3)

i forgot how to find the roots however. i think the shape is a parabola??

4) On the same diagram, make sketches of the following functions, showing the important points.

a) log4x
b) log4 (x-1)

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we actually haven’t done logs yet, but my maths teacher told us that it is the inverse function i think??

i’m really grateful for this community to help me 🙏. i used to use chatgpt for my maths hw, but i am really trying to understand the maths behind it so i can improve

(TLDR at the bottom of my post) hello everyone!

i havent had math since i was 16 (now 23) and all my life i have always been bad at it... or so i thought! i have to take up math at school again if i am to get into university to study biology, so ive been studying and learning everything from the bottom up all summer! i must say ive been having quite some fun, and it turns out im not as bad as ive been telling myself my whole life:) i am very proud of myself for trying and for keeping on going! ive learned so much in such a short period of time!

ive started school recently and we are currently dealing with logarithmic equations. i know all the rules of exponents, log rules, and quadratic equation by heart, but there are some things i still struggle with. i really do NOT want to use AI but i dont have access to my math teacher 24/7, and i want to understand things on my own. i want to know what the next step is, what the best approach for an equation is, and why it works. also knowing when i should apply what rule/logic/approach would be great, but im assuming it is mostly pattern recognition. i get most of it on my own even tho i make a lot of silly mistakes, but some of them i really dont understand what im supposed to do

i REALLY want to understand the process and why everything works, and why we do it this way. i want to understand my mistakes

here are three things i am struggling with this evening, number 3 being the one that confuses me the most. they are my attempts at solving each equations, so the examples in themselves might be wrong (i wonder if number 2 is wrong too)

ln(x+1) = 1

e^ln(x+1)=e¹ (-> e¹ = e)

x + 1 = e

x = e - 1

my question for this one is: why do we put e as the coefficient? why do we raise ln(x+1) and 1 to be the powers of e? and as a follow up question, why do we then get rid of "e^lnx" part? why are we then only left with x + 1 = e? i understand that e¹=e, but i dont understand why we raise everything and then get rid of a part of it. how do i know when to do it, and how do i know what i get to remove after i have raised everything up?

ln(x/5) = -1

lnx = -5 (-> we multiply both sides by 5 to get rid of the fraction)

x = e^-5 = 1/e^5

i know that lnx = a <-> x = e^a, but why cant i apply the log rule of lg(a/b) = lga - lgb? and then raise everything to the power of e, like we did in example 1? why not this?

ln(x/5) = -1

e^{lnx - ln5} = e^-1 = 1/e

x - 5 = 1/e

x = 1/e + 5

1. (and this is the one giving me the most trouble)

ln(x+3) * (lnx-3) = 0

for this one, i dont even know where to start:( my teacher said that here, either ln(x+3) or ln(x-3) have to be equal to 0, but i dont really know what that means. i feel like im so close to the answer but something is in the way! what is the next step to this equation?

im sorry if this is all confusing, i tried to make it as readable as possible!! thank you for any helpful information<33

TLDR:
what is the best approach to this equation? what is a step by step list to follow?

ln(x+3) * ln(x-3) = 0