Include the "why" behind mathematical concepts to improve problem solving

Hello Khan Academy Team,

First off, thank you so much for providing your step-by-step tutorials on mathematics. The concepts are broken down well, and the regular practice exercises help me anchor newly-learned knowledge and evaluate any gaps in understanding.

However, I keep running into the same frustration: it's not clear why I'm learning a particular concept. For example, I've just learned about the properties of limits. I can now subtract and add and multiply and divide limits - cool! But what kind of problems does this help me solve? How will knowing this help me later on? Why did mathematicians try to figure this out and how did they apply it? Adding just a few brief sentences about the big picture - what this kind of math helps you to do - will make huge impact.  Without this context, many people see math as a series of abstract equations, rather than a powerful tool for solving complex problems.  By understanding the applications of the math being learned, we're more likely to see the value, and therefore, more likely to be motivated to learn it for its own sake (and not just to pass a test). 

Again, your mastery knowledge approach and explanations are high quality, but having the additional explanation of "what for" may help engage more learners - especially ones who are not initially enthusiastic about math. Otherwise, keep up the great work!  What you're doing matters and is making learning more accessible.  

Thank you! 
Hayley