4 ms·

That's because these tricks is how you perform the operation quickly and efficiently. I'm not sure if you can even meaningfully derive the algebraic process and

by anon4 11y ago

That's because these tricks is how you perform the operation quickly and efficiently. I'm not sure if you can even meaningfully derive the algebraic process and meaning from first principles. You should nix the cute mnemonic stories, since those probably serve to confuse people, but the methods themselves are absolutely solid. And the one shown right on the front page (for me) cross multiply is how you divide by fractions. a/b / c/d = a/b * d/c. The fact that 1/a is the reciprocal of a, whatever a is and that 1/(a/b) = b/a should be the first thing you tell people after you tell them about fractions. Then you show why cross multiply works. That shouldn't take more than one lesson.

anon4 11y ago
P.S. On a tangential note, it would help if the names for mathematical terms were in English, rather than some weird amalgamation of Greek, Latin, French and German. In my language, all n-gons are called n-anguloids. So you have threeanguloid, fouranguloid, fiveanguloid, "a proper N-anguloid", etc... And we use the normal names for numbers, rather than Greek ones. And a rectangle is "right-angle-oid" (granted, that's the name in English too, if you squint a bit and know what phonetic shifts to look for and your German is good). Square is quadrat, though. Then again, it's still an everyday word, even if we borrowed it from Greek millennia ago. And the word for "perimeter" also means "a walk around" and "a lap". You literally tell people "the length of the lap of a rightanguloid is the sum of the four sides", which is kind of obvious if you imagine walking the perimeter. And the word for "angle" is the same as "corner". Sadly, that ship has sailed long ago.
- anvandare 11y ago
  I am 99% sure you're talking about Dutch, and in that case: we owe a lot of those non-borrowed terms, including the very term 'wiskunde' (mathematics) to Simon Stevin[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Stevin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Stevin
pflats 11y ago
Just for clarity on all my responses in these threads, I'm a (minor) contributor to Nix the Tricks and a personal friend and research partner of the author. And the one shown right on the front page (for me) cross multiply is how you divide by fractions. a/b / c/d = a/b x d/c. Exactly! And that's exactly what the book recommends. Remember, the target audience of the book is teachers. If a teacher tells them to just draw a butterfly and multiply the matching parts, the students are not actually learning the mathematics. You can use whatever method you want once you understand the mechanics.

by anon4 11y ago

anon4 11y ago

P.S. On a tangential note, it would help if the names for mathematical terms were in English, rather than some weird amalgamation of Greek, Latin, French and German. In my language, all n-gons are called n-anguloids. So you have threeanguloid, fouranguloid, fiveanguloid, "a proper N-anguloid", etc... And we use the normal names for numbers, rather than Greek ones. And a rectangle is "right-angle-oid" (granted, that's the name in English too, if you squint a bit and know what phonetic shifts to look for and your German is good). Square is quadrat, though. Then again, it's still an everyday word, even if we borrowed it from Greek millennia ago. And the word for "perimeter" also means "a walk around" and "a lap". You literally tell people "the length of the lap of a rightanguloid is the sum of the four sides", which is kind of obvious if you imagine walking the perimeter. And the word for "angle" is the same as "corner". Sadly, that ship has sailed long ago.

anvandare 11y ago
I am 99% sure you're talking about Dutch, and in that case: we owe a lot of those non-borrowed terms, including the very term 'wiskunde' (mathematics) to Simon Stevin[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Stevin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Stevin

pflats 11y ago

Just for clarity on all my responses in these threads, I'm a (minor) contributor to Nix the Tricks and a personal friend and research partner of the author. And the one shown right on the front page (for me) cross multiply is how you divide by fractions. a/b / c/d = a/b x d/c. Exactly! And that's exactly what the book recommends. Remember, the target audience of the book is teachers. If a teacher tells them to just draw a butterfly and multiply the matching parts, the students are not actually learning the mathematics. You can use whatever method you want once you understand the mechanics.