people keep saying how important it is or how useful it is, when have you ever used it? i'm not talking about finding areas or something similar, but when have you ever graphed a parabola? when have you used synthetic division? when have you used the immaginary numer i? \n\nand don't say i just don't get it, i'm in accelerated algebra II and am passing with flying colors
132428
good for you, im 24 and ive never used it its a complete waste of time, im wondering when schools will stop teaching that crap, and teach something useful
296458
Math is needed for lots of things!\nDo your homework!\n\nhttp://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.why.math.html\nThere are actually thousands of different jobs that require some knowledge of mathematics. Here are more than 30 firsthand accounts from Mathematicians at Work telling what some college math majors are doing, from an Air Traffic Control Systems Analyst and a Lawyer to a Data Capture Facility Troubleshooter on the Hubble space telescope.\n\nExactly How Is Math Used In Technology?, from the Mathematics Department of the British Columbia Institute of Technology, provides examples of math uses for biomedical engineering, food technology, building technology, chemical sciences, civil and structural engineering, graphics and computer-aided drawing (CAD), electronics, environmental health, mechanical engineering, mining technology, nuclear medicine, occupational health, petroleum technology, prosthetics, forestry and wildlife, robotics, and surveying.
62105
I think the multiplication symbol was first thought up by the...Arabs. one of the anchient people from that time frame. I forgot exactly who, but the civilization that came up with Algebra is the same one who came up with the Multiplication function in mathmatics. This was before the Dark Ages in Europe.
432784
*ugh*.... Its been 10 years since that class... and I hated that part of geometry... that is the most pointless thing in math that I have experienced to date.. why would one write a paragraph... being two columns to begin wiht, and why would u write something that is just not solvable.... or has no point in life... this is probably the reason I skated outta that class with a C-
415001
Your instructor is an idiot.\nThere is no commonly accepted notation in math which puts a dot over a natural number.\nI'm really sorry that you have a numbskull for a Calculus teacher.
220857
Algebra can get difficult but i get used to it and i grasped it pretty quickly.  But when i first learn some of the concepts i need to do the homework and look at it for a while.  Then, it just sticks to me.  I can understand how people can find it really confusing and difficult.
130686
Well. Do you know how to work rational expressions in general? The first link below is a useful general resource and has a section on rational expressions and polynomial long division; the second is specifically on rational expressions at college intro-level.\n\nI used to tutor math and I found that most people's difficulty with word problems was not the actual math, it was extracting the appropriate equations from the words. Once they had the equations, they could solve them (assuming they'd learned the basics). \n\nI'd find it pretty difficult to give you general guidelines on "how to solve word problems with rational expressions" but the main trick with word problems is to figure out a) what variables are involved, and assign each of them a letter (e.g., speed of first train is x, time it has been travelling is y, speed of second train is z...), b) sort out the relationship between them (e.g. x = 2z/5), and c) make sure you know what *exactly* is being asked. It is not at all uncommon for word problems to include extraneous information (colour of train, age of driver) to muddle the issue.\n\nYour best bet is almost certainly to go ask your teacher, professor, TA, tutor, study group, or classmate-who-understands-it for help. They will be better able to figure out where your problem is if they can watch you work through an actual example.
286365
Okay, Lets just assume that you are dividing something by (n-3). Whether you are right or not doesn't matter, since you believe you are right, and I'm too lazy to check it out on my own.\n\nWhen n=3, your solution will be undefined. If you were trying to graph this, there would be an open circle around n=3. It would not - *NOT* - be infinite.\n\nNow, if you feel you are SUPPOSED to get an answer for every number you plug in, then I would go back and re-check your algebra, because if you *KNOW* you are supposed to get an answer, then something went awry with the algebra.
476238
The remainder theorem says that when P(x) is divided by x-c, the remainder is P(c).  So if you do synthetic division by x-5, that will give you the value of P(5).  Seems a strange sort of thing to do, when it's easier to sub 5 in P(x).  You could do that as well to check whether you did the division correctly -- maybe that's what the exercise is about!\n\nI'm assuming you can handle the division OK.  If not, email h_chalker@yahoo.com.au
305959
I like to use GraphCalc, as it also includes live rotation of 3-D graphs. See http://www.graphcalc.com/ .
236314
Now keep in mind I am a recent college graduate...but I remember when I took Algebra 2, I struggled some...ended up with like a B (I think..hard to remember those details).  I did much better with Geometry though-so thats cool. I enjoy math though-isn't that ironic? I did very well in college though.
129715
Be familiar with the divisors of small numbers.  Learn to quickly look at two numbers and know if one is the sum or difference of two numbers that multiply to the other.\n\nBe able to do arithmetic in your head.\n\nLearn how to do synthetic division.\n\nPractice on many examples.
90054
All area, wherever you go..you will use that algebra for your work. For example, the simple one, if you are working in the service company, and you have to make a report of the percentage of total complaint you receive a day...\nYou have to use your algebra.\n\nDon't ever think it's pointless..., otherwise you will hate it and later on you will regret it, that you don't pay too much attention to that subject
322863
Calculus is not an advanced mathematical concept; I was taught it at a bog standard state school starting when I was 12 years old. It is really simple; it starts by being about finding the area under a graph and then (of course) being able to do the calculation in reverse.  Differentiation and Integration. You can investigate the rate of change, and it introduces you to the philosophical notions of tiny differences, infinity and the way that geometry is a graphical form of algebra.\n\nAt it's root, Newton would have seen that (for example) speed equals distance over time.  This is m/s or miles per hour... called a linear equation because you can plot a straight line (m/s) if one axis is "m" and the other is "s".  The angle the line makes, the steepness, introduces trigonometric ratios.  The steeper the incline angle, the faster something is going in a given time.\n\nNewton began devising his calculus based on the notion that all the marvelous interlinked things you can do with linear equations, can be done for curves... but it all depends on thinking of a tiny part of the curve...\n\nThe tiny teeniest bit of a curve is almost a line... or a curve is just a series of tiny straight lines with incline angles...\n\nIn the end it is not "important" to learn calculus, it is not very useful in everyday life.  At best it may be thought of as useful in philosophy merely because it is reversible, and because it involves weird notions about error and approximation for the sakes of utility.\n\nADVANCED mathematics (not calculus!) such as the theory of knots, surface landscapes, three dimensional matrices etc is very close to philosophy; it will sharpen your LOGIC to be more stringent and you will produce tighter proofs and more cohesive theories if you learn the advanced mathematical mindset...\n\nFor example, SIMPLE maths suggests that we know and accept 1+1=2, ADVANCED mathematics asks how and why 1+1=2, and what would happen if 1+1=5 etc.  i.e. different models within which to work.\n\nProbably the simplest and first introduction to all this is when people are told to use numbers with base 8 or base 2 instead of base 10.\n\nBinary or Hexadecimal is quite a philosophical revelation to some people!  Try doing a simply multiplication calculation using Roman numerals. ... challenge the accepted norms and think freely (maths will allow you to do this like nothing else).  Appreciate the beauty of mathematics, theoretical proofs to applied natural philosophy, fractals, and more besides.
387482
I find that so hard to believe.That's inexcusable at that level of education.I've been in the building trades for 19 years and can add,subtract,multiply and divide fractions in my head.The rules are painfully simple regarding the math.I have a hard time believing anyone could have problems with that.\nAnd not for nothing,but your grammar is pretty bad as well.The question should read "Why do students at the university level still have difficulties with fractions?"
44404
That's untrue.  Quite in fact, the absence of the zero stifled the advancement of mathematics in the west for a long time.  Zero is a number of fundamental importance.\n\nI don't know where you're getting your info.  Perhaps someone got an award from some group of idiots that thought he was being clever, but zero is far, far, far, far, far from being nonsense.\n\nSomeone is jerking your chain, bro.  Give up onit already.  You need to recognize that you were duped and move on.
492205
I had a terrible time in algebra in ninth grade. Having a conference with the teacher to find out where I wasn't "getting it" did the trick. I didn't know what "1n" meant! I asked the teacher, and she patiently said, "it's the same as "n." That really opened my eyes. I hadn't figured that out, so it was like a light bulb going on!  For you, it may be something as simple, and so difficult if you aren't thinking mathematically. Math anxiety is a terrible thing.\n\nBy the way, I eventually got an A+ in calculus...me! I'd never have believed it.