tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3427479692989285926.post8965584024452523147..comments2024-03-17T11:54:10.124+11:00Comments on Journeyman Philosopher: Algebra - the language of mathematicsPaul P. Mealinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14573615711151742992noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3427479692989285926.post-56443193949128968782013-06-26T19:35:00.073+10:002013-06-26T19:35:00.073+10:00Hi Eli,
Yes, and, basically that's the way it...Hi Eli,<br /><br />Yes, and, basically that's the way it is in algebra: a number can be positive or negative and it can be inverted or not, but it's important to keep track of those attributes. <br /><br />In fact, if I was teaching this, I'd make that point about the associative law: you can do them in any order you want as long as the negative numbers stay negative and the inverted ones stay inverted.<br /><br />I think algebra is a conceptual hurdle for a lot of people and I don't think BIDMAS helps at all. It assumes you're ignorant and, if you depend on it, it will keep you ignorant.<br /><br />Regards, Paul.Paul P. Mealinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14573615711151742992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3427479692989285926.post-40311521375249308812013-06-26T12:02:41.103+10:002013-06-26T12:02:41.103+10:00"Obviously there is no commutative law for su..."Obviously there is no commutative law for subtraction or division."<br /><br />Plausibly that's because subtraction and division aren't true operations. Really, subtraction is just the addition of a negative number and division is just multiplication by a number between 0 and 1.Elihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03543293341085230171noreply@blogger.com