Questions tagged [algebra]
Algebra is the part of mathematics in which letters and other general symbols are used to represent numbers and quantities in formulae and equations.
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What skills do algebra teachers wish their students had mastered before taking algebra?
I am designing 10 hour weekly summer math learning opportunities for students taking algebra next school year. I would like to know from algebra teachers what skills they wish their students had ...
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Usage of cubic equation Vieta's formula
I explained to my kid Vieta's formula of quadratic equation and showed that it can be used to solve quadratic equation (from $x_1+x_2$ and $x_1x_2$ to get $x_1-x_2$) and cubic equation (Cardano's ...
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Math textbook for secondary school using Logo like language
What math textbooks for kids do you know that use Logo or similar languages with visual robots like Turtle (in "The Turtle Geometry") that demonstrate space motions, transformations of all ...
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Math textbook for secondary school using Logo like syntax
What math textbooks for kids do you know that use Logo or similar languages with visual robots like Turtle (in "The Turtle Geometry") that demonstrate space motions, transformations of all ...
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why or when do we use the general form of conic sections?
why write a conic in this form?
for any real A, B, C, D, E, and F, a conic may be expressed as
$$Ax^2 + Bxy +Cy^2+Dx+Ey+F=0$$
why wouldn't it be more natural to write the conic in standard form with ...
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When can students understand the intersection of two circles?
I'm interested in learning two transitions:
(1) When can students reason (intuitively, but accurately) to conclude that two circles in the plane
could intersect in $0$, $1$, or $2$ points, or are ...
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Advice and Remedial Algebra Resources for Students Committed to Calculus
I've got a student in my introductory calculus course. They're failing because they lack algebra skills. They understand the concepts just fine, and can articulate their understanding fine, but get ...
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Confusing variables with units in simple equations
I have noticed that beginning algebra (or pre-algebra) students can easily make the following type of error, confusing variables with units when being introduced to equations for proportional ...
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1st time math teacher 1st test feedback appreciated
I'm not a math teacher but I've stepped into the role to assist a small private school who lost their math teacher during the holidays (I'm a mechanical engineer by trade). The course is Algebra 1 (...
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What are common mistakes that students will make when solving "What's the original price" percentage problems?
Take this question for an example:
A smartphone is now $\$500$ after a $20\%$ discount. What was its original price?
Now, this is an example of a type of math problem that students face usually in ...
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Special topics for introductory probability
I am helping to design a low-level college course whose purpose is to teach critical thinking, logic, finance and probability. I have been tasked with developing the probability section. I am ...
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Fixing wrong ideas about coefficients (e.g. subtract 3 from 3x to isolate x)
I tutor a student (9th grade, United States) who is in an algebra class. She consistently makes mistakes when dealing with coefficients.
The most common one is attempting to subtract away a ...
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Is there a standard convention for interpreting ambiguous absolute value expressions?
Consider the expression
$$|x + 2|x + 3|x + 4|.$$
One way to interpret this is that there are two products being added together:
$$|x+2|x \hspace{1cm} + \hspace{1cm} 3|x+4|$$
But you could also ...
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Intuition for order of operations in compound transformations
This is a close cousin of the previous question asked here about transformations inside and outside a function and how they switch things around. I think some of the perspectives there will help here, ...
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Examples of Financial Institutions that Compute Interest Atypically?
Are there examples of financial institutions that compound their interest more frequently than once-a-month? Are there examples of financial institutions that consider continually compounded interest ...
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