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Many people often don't recognize just how often they are actually using basic algebra because they don't take the time to write out the problem in the form of an equation with x marking the unknown quantity. But it's algebra all the same!
Exactly. However, I'm geeky enough to actually write out the equations when I need to figure something out.
Many people often don't recognize just how often they are actually using basic algebra because they don't take the time to write out the problem in the form of an equation with x marking the unknown quantity. But it's algebra all the same!
I always love when people assume they just always knew what they know now.
You are pre-supposing that no young people actually want to work, which is just not true at all.
Also, the idea that work should be something to dread rather than something to enjoy is itself socially constructed, at least to the extent that most people just accept doing something they hate as a "fact of life" and then project their feelings onto people who aren't even legally old enough to work yet. In my opinion, that is bizarre, but it seems so normal because you're used to it.
You are pre-supposing you can read my mind!
That said, while lots of kids may want to work, there is very little that a high school graduate with zero further education, whether he went to vo-tech or not, can do that will be financially remunerative and which will allow him to support himself and perhaps a family. Gone are the days when a young man can graduate from high school and get a job in some heavy industry factory that will pay a decent living wage. There aren't too many stimulating, personally fulfilling jobs at that level. Note that I'm talking about males. It's even harder for females. At every education level, women earn less than men.
The whole thread was started by misunderstanding the term "Abstract Algebra". Every one can learn abstract algebra and leave no c̶h̶i̶l̶d̶ human behind. Let's make American smart again. Cheers.
I'm willing to serve as a guinea pig.
I gave up on the idea of a college degree at 24. I'd gone to night school attending to get a Bachelors in Accounting. I took Accounting I, II, and III. I got through Business Law. Loved English Literature. Liked Psychology. High grades in all.
But there were entrance exams to see where you placed in English and Math. My English exam put me in the Lit class. The Math exam was bewildering. They gave me a sheath of paper that I didn't use. It's like looking at hieroglyphics to me.
I had to take and pay for a remedial math class, and I failed. I would think I was getting it in class, then I went home and tried to do homework, and it was hieroglyphics again.
I gave up. I was never going to be able to get a degree without Math. I was working full time and taking classes at night, and I was exhausted. There was a way to move from clerical into management by taking CLEP exams if you had no degree. Oddly, I passed the Math CLEP with a higher-than-average score. It was multiple choice, and I guessed.
But it bugs me personally that I was unable to grasp Algebra in high school.
So, whaddya think? Can a 61-year-old teach herself basic algebra?
I hate to break the bad news to you, but your equation is WRONG. You have the correct answer, but you don't get it by dividing 225 by 0.45.
The equation should read:
0.55S = 225
S = 225/0.55 = 409.09
Aaahh, you're right, of course, I forgot what I wrote in the original problem.
The point remains that that big complicated roundy-round with equal proportions and I don't know what all else, is replaced by two to three lines of simple algebraic calculations (you didn't include the very first line which you've left as implicit which would be
Let me say, as a nurse who worked in a small office, I had to calculate drug doses frequently. Here's one:
Doctor orders 650 mg of a med. The med comes in a powder, 1000 mg to a sealed vial. To mix, you need to add 2 ml of liquid (saline or other diluent). That makes about 2.2 (? just guessing here; it's been a while) of solution. How much do you give the patient?
Aaahh, you're right, of course, I forgot what I wrote in the original problem.
The point remains that that big complicated roundy-round with equal proportions and I don't know what all else, is replaced by two to three lines of simple algebraic calculations (you didn't include the very first line which you've left as implicit which would be
(1-0.45)S = 225.)
I didn't include the first line (that you included) because the first line is totally unnecessary. All you need is a simple statement of fact in the form of an equation. This is accomplished by writing 0.55S = 225 Now simply solve for S. Anything more is unnecessary and therefore redundant.
Are you saying some of us didn't learn algebra in high school? I was an actual 9th grader at one time.
I don't know what you know. I do have a pretty decent idea of what my students know, and they would not (generally) be able to solve those problems prior to Algebra I.
I also don't think that having been a teenager once qualifies you as an expert on teenagers. Memory is deceptive.
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