@ Nymphadora


I don't mean to sound like a dork, but IMO, learning mathematics is not all about smarts (you don't have to be a genius to learn and appreciate it): it requires a mixture of intellect, playfulness, curiosity, interest, and a willingness to engage the material via one's own initiative.

BTW, it's great to hear that your daughter enjoys math; she sounds like she's very intellectually curious, gifted/multi-talented, and more importantly, a kind person.  I wish you and her the best.

@Joods I bet you use algebra all the time. You just use words instead of letters. Ever changed the portion size of a recipe?
4 portions = 1/2cup
6 portions = ?

(September 20, 2017 at 11:14 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote: @Joods I bet you use algebra all the time. You just use words instead of letters. Ever changed the portion size of a recipe?
4 portions = 1/2cup
6 portions = ?

I don't know... you're not having me try and solve for a letter. That's all numbers so I would think it's pretty straightforward. 

However, is that 4 portions 1/2 cup each or is the total of the four portions equaling 1/2 cup.

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Maybe I just learn weird? I don't know.

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(September 20, 2017 at 10:53 pm)Kernel Sohcahtoa Wrote: @ Nymphadora


I don't mean to sound like a dork, but IMO, learning mathematics is not all about smarts (you don't have to be a genius to learn and appreciate it): it requires a mixture of intellect, playfulness, curiosity, interest, and a willingness to engage the material via one's own initiative.

BTW, it's great to hear that your daughter enjoys math; she sounds like she's very intellectually curious, gifted/multi-talented, and more importantly, a kind person.  I wish you and her the best.

Thank you very much. I'll be sure to tell her you said that.

EB, here's those hitech camera things I was talking about.
Set and forget... Perfect for a roaming snappaholic like yourself.

http://www.redmondpie.com/frontrow-is-a-...your-neck/

(September 21, 2017 at 12:21 am)Nymphadora Wrote:

(September 20, 2017 at 11:14 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote: @Joods I bet you use algebra all the time. You just use words instead of letters. Ever changed the portion size of a recipe?
4 portions = 1/2cup
6 portions = ?

I don't know... you're not having me try and solve for a letter. That's all numbers so I would think it's pretty straightforward. 

However, is that 4 portions 1/2 cup each or is the total of the four portions equaling 1/2 cup.

If you need 1/2 cup of butter for 4 portions how many cups of butter do you need for 6 portions?

a 1/2 more again!

Yay!

(September 21, 2017 at 2:35 am)SteelCurtain Wrote:

(September 21, 2017 at 12:21 am)Nymphadora Wrote: I don't know... you're not having me try and solve for a letter. That's all numbers so I would think it's pretty straightforward. 

However, is that 4 portions 1/2 cup each or is the total of the four portions equaling 1/2 cup.

If you need 1/2 cup of butter for 4 portions how many cups of butter do you need for 6 portions?

I would say 6 is only 2 more than four, so you'd need an additional 1/4 cup, so 3/4 cup total for the 6 portions. 

No algebra involved there. Just fractions.

(September 20, 2017 at 9:42 pm)Nymphadora Wrote: She threw this at me:

(E+2)(E+2)

I never was good in math. Because of this, I didn't have to learn algebra. I'm 46. She's trying to teach me how to use something that in 46 years of my being on this earth, I've never needed.

She tried teaching me how to foil. The only thing I remotely know about foiling has to do with a hair color technique and you don't need algebra for that!

So...kudos to everyone who is smart enough to understand it. I don't think I ever will.

Yeah, like Kernel said, I don't think it's about being smart or anything... maths is just a set of rules, with its own language set. It's more similar to learning/knowing a different language, than being smart.
Most of the times, it's about remembering the right words to make the full sentence.... there are so many words... so many.

Anyway, letters in maths should not be feared. They simply represent a number. They may represent a number we wish to discover, or any arbitrary number we may wish to assign.
The letters are like labels for numbers, when we are not sure which numbers should go in there. Even when we do know the numbers, they tend to be so weird that we prefer to use a letter in it's place, like the speed of light in vacuum, 'c' = 299 792 458 m s-1, or the famous π=3.141592653589793238462643383279...

So, anyway... I had to look up what this "foil" business was, because in Portuguese there's no such thing
a*(b+c) = a*b + a*c... simple enough, but if a itself is a sum
(a1+a2)*(b+c) = a1*b+a1*c + a2*b + a2*c, that's cool.... how about we add some more terms?

(a1+a2+a3)*(b+c) = a1*b+a1*c + a2*b+a2*c + a3*b+a3*c, just keep doing more of the same!

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(September 21, 2017 at 4:33 am)Nymphadora Wrote:

(September 21, 2017 at 2:35 am)SteelCurtain Wrote: If you need 1/2 cup of butter for 4 portions how many cups of butter do you need for 6 portions?

I would say 6 is only 2 more than four, so you'd need an additional 1/4 cup, so 3/4 cup total for the 6 portions. 

No algebra involved there. Just fractions.

That's algebra, even if it's in disguise.

(September 21, 2017 at 5:21 am)pocaracas Wrote: Yeah, like Kernel said, I don't think it's about being smart or anything... maths is just a set of rules, with its own language set. It's more similar to learning/knowing a different language, than being smart.
Most of the times, it's about remembering the right words to make the full sentence.... there are so many words... so many.

Anyway, letters in maths should not be feared. They simply represent a number. They may represent a number we wish to discover, or any arbitrary number we may wish to assign.
The letters are like labels for numbers, when we are not sure which numbers should go in there. Even when we do know the numbers, they tend to be so weird that we prefer to use a letter in it's place, like the speed of light in vacuum, 'c' = 299 792 458 m s-1, or the famous π=3.141592653589793238462643383279...

So, anyway... I had to look up what this "foil" business was, because in Portuguese there's no such thing
a*(b+c) = a*b + a*c... simple enough, but if a itself is a sum
(a1+a2)*(b+c) = a1*b+a1*c + a2*b + a2*c, that's cool.... how about we add some more terms?

(a1+a2+a3)*(b+c) = a1*b+a1*c + a2*b+a2*c + a3*b+a3*c, just keep doing more of the same!

Red mine. 

You had me clear up to that point. Then you lost me.

I'm getting the hang of it.