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Feel free to say whatever you wish to say. I say it makes it appear to be more complicated and mysterious. That's what I say. Making a post about how simple it is just to call the unknown x does not suddenly part the Red Sea creating an epiphany in my mind. At this stage of my functioning human being life, it goes into my very active file 13.......
If the X bothers you, put in a box and solve for what goes into the box. This is how my daughter was introduced to algebra in Singapore math.
If you want to learn algebra, I'd highly recommend purchasing some Singapore math books.
In real life you're given a word problem with an implied X so get used to the variable. X is simply any value that makes the equation true.
How practical is algebra in the real world? When will you ever have to solve for X?
One would think going into law that one wouldn't need to know about Algebra.
Wrong.
I found that the math classes I took at the university as an undergraduate student were among some of the most useful that I had. In retrospect, I'm glad I got an undergraduate degree in Economics. In my occupation, I constantly have to read data. I've seen lawyers who were scared to death to cross examine an expert witness because they didn't understand the rudiments of statistics, graphs, or charts. I can't imagine doing this job well without knowing that and the basics of both linear and quadratic equations.
Literally, my first year out of law school I was given the task of taking the deposition of an economist who had put together an extremely flawed report on the economic losses that our client who had had her brain damaged in an accident had received. I read the expert's report and in five minutes of deposition testimony had torn it apart. The attorney representing the insurance company was so stunned by what I had done that he never called the expert as a witness at all during the trial of this case three months later. There is no way I could have done this without both some background in Algebra and Statistics.
The truth is that I wish I had more of a math background than I have. I chose not to take more of those classes because I tended to get C's in them. C's drug my overall grade point average down and that's a risk someone trying to get into law school can't take.
Just like the others have said, Algebra is an extremely useful subject.
If your garden is 10 ft. by 6 ft., how much fertilizer do you need to buy to cover the area?
If a value meal is $3.99 and you have 3 children, how much money do you need to feed your family?
If you make 8% commission on each widget you sell, how many do you need to sell to earn $25K a year?
See? We solve for x all the time.
But I think the point some of us are trying to make is that you can figure out these everyday things in your head using simple reasoning and arithmetic, without having to sit down and write some kind of equation with ten lines of steps showing what someone says is the "right" way to think it out. Nobody's gonna sit by the fast-food driveup window doing an algebra problem to figure out how much money they need to feed their family.
I have a BS in physics. I know that there are PLENTY of real-world applications of quadratic equations. The point I was trying to make is that extremely few people will ever use those equations for anything. Yes, if you're a military weapons engineer and you're trying to determine where a projectile will land if it is fired from a cannon using a certain amount of motive force applied by the explosion of a certain amount of powder, you will use a quadratic equation. But I guarantee you that the quarterback doesn't compute exactly how much force he must apply to the football and at what exact angle he must launch the football so that the receiver will catch it.... he just KNOWS, from practice. The baseball player just KNOWS how to throw the ball so that the second baseman will catch it and tag out the runner before he has the chance to make it safely to second base. The businessperson may be able to estimate the ideal price for a bicycle based upon a quadratic equation derived from several assumptions, but since they are all assumptions, he probably wouldn't use a quadratic equation to estimate the price at which he will sell the bicycles. He'll check his competition, calculate the profit he'd make at a price he thinks he could get for his bikes, and see if that's acceptable. In practice, if he isn't getting the profit he wants, he will adjust his price.
Though many real-world situations can be modeled using quadratic equations, VERY few people ever ACTUALLY use quadratic equations to assist in those real-world situations.
I can only guess you felt the need to make a post of some sort. This thread is becoming curiouser and curiouser.
Do you have a problem with the suggestion that the X be replaced with something less confusing? Or just me posting?
This is actually not uncommon. Some people have a very hard time seeing the X (a letter) as a variable. Using a space or a box is how my daughters were introduced to algebra in Singapore math. Both of my kids and all of their friends that I know of are also good at algebra. I don't think that's a coincidence.
Singapore math does an early introduction to algebra using a space or box where the answer goes and it seems to work.
While this thread has gotten strange, there may be someone reading it who struggles with this.
But I think the point some of us are trying to make is that you can figure out these everyday things in your head using simple reasoning and arithmetic, without having to sit down and write some kind of equation with ten lines of steps showing what someone says is the "right" way to think it out. Nobody's gonna sit by the fast-food driveup window doing an algebra problem to figure out how much money they need to feed their family.
Whether you do it in your head or on paper the logic is the same.
Do you have a problem with the suggestion that the X be replaced with something less confusing? Or just me posting?
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No, I don't have a problem with suggestions re something less confusing or just you posting. But, you've not told me anything I don't already know. I'm not sure where you get the idea I need clarification about something.
No, I don't have a problem with suggestions re something less confusing or just you posting. But, you've not told me anything I don't already know. I'm not sure where you get the idea I need clarification about something.
You appear to be posting about how algebra is confusing and complicated. Is that not the case?
Because you are attacking anyone who explains in an attempt to make it less confusing. Given that the thread was posted by someone who does find it confusing or complicated, maybe keep in mind that most posts in the thread, even those answering your questions, have been made that way for the OP.
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