The Mathenæum Blog » bamboozling http://www.thewessens.net/blog Discussing mathematical explorations, games, and learning Fri, 03 Jul 2015 01:35:49 +0000 en-AU hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.5 Cracking the quadratic code http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/06/22/cracking-the-quadratic-code/ http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/06/22/cracking-the-quadratic-code/#comments Sun, 21 Jun 2015 23:52:08 +0000 http://www.thewessens.net/blog/?p=603 In an earlier post, we looked at expanding binomial products. Remember how the result of the expansion is a mixture of the inputs — the numbers in the input do not appear in the result, but the numbers that …

]]> In an earlier post, we looked at expanding binomial products. Remember how the result of the expansion is a mixture of the inputs — the numbers in the input do not appear in the result, but the numbers that …

]]> http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/06/22/cracking-the-quadratic-code/feed/ 0 Ratios — calculations from the dawn of mathematics http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/03/19/ratios-the-super-fractions/ http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/03/19/ratios-the-super-fractions/#comments Thu, 19 Mar 2015 08:29:57 +0000 http://www.thewessens.net/blog/?p=316 Ratios and fractions are very similar things, since they are both arise from comparing the relative sizes of quantities. Let’s quickly review what exactly a fraction is. If you think of a “whole” as made up of some number of …

]]> Ratios and fractions are very similar things, since they are both arise from comparing the relative sizes of quantities. Let’s quickly review what exactly a fraction is. If you think of a “whole” as made up of some number of …

]]> http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/03/19/ratios-the-super-fractions/feed/ 2 Recurring decimals are cool! http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/03/16/recurring-decimals-are-cool/ http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/03/16/recurring-decimals-are-cool/#comments Mon, 16 Mar 2015 08:03:21 +0000 http://www.thewessens.net/blog/?p=256 I was thinking about maths teaching the other day (I’m sure you’ll not be surprised to know this is something I often do) and in particular about the different approaches teachers bring to the subject. Teaching maths is a challenge …

]]> I was thinking about maths teaching the other day (I’m sure you’ll not be surprised to know this is something I often do) and in particular about the different approaches teachers bring to the subject. Teaching maths is a challenge …

]]> http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/03/16/recurring-decimals-are-cool/feed/ 0 Solving Equations http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/03/14/solving-equations/ http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/03/14/solving-equations/#comments Sat, 14 Mar 2015 10:16:14 +0000 http://www.thewessens.net/blog/?p=166 A typical maths textbook presents equation solving in a very ordered, structured way. Starting with one-step equations such as 3x=6, they introduce the single step solution process

    \begin{eqnarray*} 3x & = & 6 \\ \color{red}{\scriptstyle \div 3} & & \color{red}{\scriptstyle\div 3} \\ x & = & 2 \end{eqnarray*}

before moving onto two-step equations such as 3x-3=12. For these equations …

]]> A typical maths textbook presents equation solving in a very ordered, structured way. Starting with one-step equations such as 3x=6, they introduce the single step solution process

    \begin{eqnarray*} 3x & = & 6 \\ \color{red}{\scriptstyle \div 3} & & \color{red}{\scriptstyle\div 3} \\ x & = & 2 \end{eqnarray*}

before moving onto two-step equations such as 3x-3=12. For these equations …

]]> http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/03/14/solving-equations/feed/ 0 Expanding Binomial Products http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/03/14/expanding-binomial-products/ http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/03/14/expanding-binomial-products/#comments Sat, 14 Mar 2015 01:05:18 +0000 http://www.thewessens.net/blog/?p=120 Welcome to the first mathematical post in The Mathenæum Blog. In this post, I have chosen to discuss expanding binomial products, because in many ways binomial products act as a bridge between elementary algebraic work, and more advanced applications …

]]> Welcome to the first mathematical post in The Mathenæum Blog. In this post, I have chosen to discuss expanding binomial products, because in many ways binomial products act as a bridge between elementary algebraic work, and more advanced applications …

]]> http://www.thewessens.net/blog/2015/03/14/expanding-binomial-products/feed/ 0