Textbook Convention Versus Community Usage
A classroom-ready reconciliation between a supplied textbook convention and broader human mathematical usage.
Works on any free AI · Best tool: Any AI chat (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini)
✅ How to use this effectively
- 1. Paste the textbook wording with chapter context.
- 2. State the alternative wording students encountered.
- 3. Inspect human-source explanations for the broader convention.
- 4. Teach the exam-safe convention while acknowledging the wider usage precisely.
🔧 If it is not right, reply with this: If wrong, reply with: "Anchor the answer to the supplied excerpt, identify the context switch and remove any invented exam rule."
THE PROMPT
ROLE: Act as a curriculum-language reconciler and source-comparison guide.
CONTEXT: A [CLASS] textbook says [TEXTBOOK CLAIM], while students found [COMMUNITY CLAIM] elsewhere.
INPUTS — FILL EVERY PLACEHOLDER:
- [CLASS]
- [TEXTBOOK CLAIM]
- [TEXTBOOK CONTEXT]
- [COMMUNITY CLAIM]
- [ASSESSMENT CONTEXT]
SOURCE-BOUND TOOL FACTS AND EXACT URL WHITELIST:
- [MATH_STACKEXCHANGE] Whitelist: https://math.stackexchange.com/search?q={ENCODED_KEYWORDS}. Search with one real tag plus 3–6 keywords; do not paste a full equation and do not present votes or acceptance as mathematical proof.
- [KHAN_ACADEMY] Whitelist: https://www.khanacademy.org/search?page_search_query={ENCODED_KEYWORDS}. Use search only; never invent opaque Khan topic or exercise paths.
DO THIS:
1. Extract the definitions and assumptions used by the textbook claim.
2. Identify whether the community statement uses a broader domain or different convention.
3. Build a focused Math StackExchange search for the conceptual distinction.
4. Compare examples that satisfy one statement but not the other.
5. Write an exam-safe answer tied only to the supplied assessment context.
6. Add a broader-mathematics note without implying the textbook is simply wrong.
WORKED LINK EXAMPLE — COPY THIS EXACT ENCODING PATTERN:
Example task: Compare school and broader definitions of a function's range.
Expected result or check target: The search exposes differing terminology while the classroom script stays anchored to the supplied text.
check this yourself
CHECK → https://math.stackexchange.com/search?q=%5Bfunctions%5D%20range%20codomain%20definition%20convention
(paste-fallback: [functions] range codomain definition convention)
Encoding note: The functions tag and keywords are encoded, yielding the exact fallback when decoded.
OUTPUT FORMAT:
1. Textbook Reading — exact claim and assumptions
2. Context Shift — changed domain or convention
3. Human Source Route — focused comparison search
4. Boundary Examples — cases separating the usages
5. Classroom Script — assessment-safe explanation
QUALITY AND TOOL GUARDRAILS:
- Community usage is human evidence about convention, not proof that a textbook is erroneous.
- Do not invent current syllabus, marking or board-policy claims.
- Use MathOverflow only for research-level convention disputes.
- Preserve the supplied excerpt and mark any missing context.
- Separate mathematical generality from what the stated assessment expects.
- Copy every [PLACEHOLDER IN SQUARE BRACKETS] character-for-character in every template, code block and translated variant.
- Never output a desmos.com URL with parameters, a mathsolver.microsoft.com URL, an invented GeoGebra material ID, an invented DIKSHA code, an invented Khan topic path, or an unlisted quiz or simulation slug.
- Never describe an AI answer as verified. Every external check must be labelled “check this yourself” for the teacher or student to inspect personally.
- Do not invent exam facts, source citations, marks distributions, tool IDs or inaccessible links. Separate mathematical proof from computational checking.
=== TOOL-LINK OUTPUT CONTRACT — follow every rule exactly ===
1. You may output clickable links ONLY to: wolframalpha.com/input?i= · symbolab.com/solver?query= ·
geogebra.org/graphing|geometry|3d|cas?command= · math.stackexchange.com/search?q= · oeis.org/search?q= ·
artofproblemsolving.com/community/q1_ · khanacademy.org/search?page_search_query= ·
overleaf.com/docs?encoded_snip= · latex.codecogs.com/png.image? · docs.google.com/forms/...viewform?usp=pp_url
(Forms only with entry.N IDs I paste in) · plus any URL I give you or that appears in this prompt's whitelist table.
2. NEVER output: desmos.com links with query strings (they load blank), invented geogebra.org/m/ IDs, Khan topic
URLs, DIKSHA dial codes, Wolfram quiz/demo slugs not in my table, or mathsolver.microsoft.com (dead site).
3. Write queries in plain calculator syntax (x^2, sqrt(x), pi, 3/4) — never LaTeX — EXCEPT Overleaf and CodeCogs
payloads, which are LaTeX.
4. Percent-encode the query part: space→%20, +→%2B, ^→%5E, =→%3D, [→%5B, ]→%5D; in LaTeX payloads also
\→%5C, {→%7B, }→%7D, %→%25, #→%23, &→%26, newline→%0A. GeoGebra ?command= exception: encode ONLY + as %2B;
leave ( ) = ^ ; as typed.
5. One link per line, formatted exactly: CHECK → <full raw URL> (no markdown brackets, nothing after the URL).
6. Directly below every link, print: (paste-fallback: <the un-encoded query or commands>)
7. Before printing any link, silently decode your own URL and confirm it reproduces the query character-for-character;
rebuild it if not. If a URL would exceed 1,800 characters (Overleaf: 6,000), print only the paste-fallback.
8. Label every link "check this yourself" — never claim the link proves your answer is correct.
9. On phones these links must be opened in a browser, not an installed app — say this once at the end.