Explaining the Steps

 I stumbled upon the question: 'What happens in your head when you add 37 and 48?' on Twitter/X. I was surprised by the question. I usually hear questions such as: 'What are your thoughts on X?' or 'What is your thinking on Y?' but never: 'What happens in your head when you add A and B?'

Since this blog is called 'Inside Fahmeena Odetta's Head,' I felt obligated to answer the question. When adding 37 and 48 in my head, I follow the rules. Based on the rules, I know I need to add the 7 and 8 first so that is my first step. The rules tell me what I should do with the (intermediate) result 15. Then, based on the rules I need to add the 3 and 4 and add 1 to it to get the result. The result is obvious.

It has been years and years since I wrote out the steps to solve a math problem. I recall some problems required step-by-step explanations (such as: Since X = Y, then...., and therefore....).