Algebra

Gaige

Gaige

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Rant thread.

WHY the fuck does it exist? It is so unbelevably pointless. Why amd when will we EVER in a million goddam YEARS need to replace numbers with letters. Never is when! :rage: I don't want to multiply 2 by x. I want an actual fucking number so that I can get an answer. And why won't it give it to me? Letters have no goddam place in my math book. Math is for NUMBERS. Gtfo X and Y, and the other 24 too.

And it hasn't got half the formulas in the book. I'm looking at past exam questions, and I've got a STATE APPROVED MATH BOOK, but the formulas aren't on the Internet or anywhere else. They can fuck off and die. If you can't adapt the book to the questions, you aren't doing your goddam job right.

Rant ended.
 
Mitsuru Kirijo said:
Rant thread.

WHY the fuck does it exist? It is so unbelevably pointless. Why amd when will we EVER in a million goddam YEARS need to replace numbers with letters. Never is when! :rage: I don't want to multiply 2 by x. I want an actual fucking number so that I can get an answer. And why won't it give it to me? Letters have no goddam place in my math book. Math is for NUMBERS. Gtfo X and Y, and the other 24 too.
Click to expand...

:|

In fairness letters are used in maths as placeholders to values which are likely to change. When you use a number in a formula you are making a statement which isnt going to change.

For example, +1 will always be +1, but +x can change depending on variables which have been taken into account. for example... wind resistance on a feather.

I hope thats managed to placate your fury and not inspire another rant :wacky:
 
If the goddam variables will be taken into account, why not jus apply them at the start instead of halfway through? Values shouldn't change. They should remain JUST SO! :rage: The goddam feather's wind resistance should just be applied at the start.
 
I can't stand algebra either, I could only ever partially understand it. And I particularly loathe functions :mokken:

f(x) = :rage:

I did find, though, that if you're doing work from a book, sometimes they'll have an answer key and you can work the formulas backwards from there. Anything I did ever figure out about algebra I learned on my own by doing this. I'm not sure if you're in a situation where this would help you but it is a thought :hmmm:
 
/biased engineer opinion

Algebra is the most widely used form of math in existence. Without it, we can't do calculus, physics or chemistry. And all of those help solve every major equation in life that we need answers too. So algebra is very very necessary.

The letters are just placeholders for numbers that you don't know what the value is. Again, you can solve almost anything when applying algebra to some known numbers. Once you determine what the value of 2 is, then you can use it in your 2 times x equation and the answer should equal out. Another reason that is great is because if it doesn't equal out, then you know your answer for x is wrong. You can actually check your own answer and it's completely foolproof. As far as I'm conerned, it's probably the most useful subject you'll learn in school.
 
Algebra is quite useful, but what of use are vectors and plane equations. Like an average person would ever use that knowledge on everyday problem.
 
Aurë entuluva said:
Algebra is quite useful, but what of use are vectors and plane equations. Like an average person would ever use that knowledge on everyday problem.
Click to expand...
More than anything, vectors are just to determine numbers in direction. It is true, if you're applying numbers to a real life problem, you don't care how it affects each plane in the 3D environment, you want the resultant number. So I do agree, vectors and planes are more of an analytical thing to sharpen the understanding of how the numbers are applied, and don't have as high of a bearing in real life. But then again, some applications you do want a number from a certain vector direction, but not nearly as frequently as one would want the resultant.
 
I will honestly say that Algebra was the worst part of math in school. And people wonder why I almost failed math. I'm great with numbers and such, but throwing in the really difficult equations in, and it screws me up way too much.
 
I was never good at math to begin with so yes can say that I don't like Algebra either. There's somethings I got and something's just totally messed me up >.< and i really struggled with it. I passed luckily.

Now despite my hatred for the subject like Dan said, Its probably one of the most important parts of math you'll have to learn.


Just because its important doesn't mean i haveta like it :mokken:
 
Mitsuru Kirijo said:
Rant thread.

WHY the fuck does it exist? It is so unbelevably pointless. Why amd when will we EVER in a million goddam YEARS need to replace numbers with letters. Never is when! :rage: I don't want to multiply 2 by x. I want an actual fucking number so that I can get an answer. And why won't it give it to me? Letters have no goddam place in my math book. Math is for NUMBERS. Gtfo X and Y, and the other 24 too.

And it hasn't got half the formulas in the book. I'm looking at past exam questions, and I've got a STATE APPROVED MATH BOOK, but the formulas aren't on the Internet or anywhere else. They can fuck off and die. If you can't adapt the book to the questions, you aren't doing your goddam job right.

Rant ended.
Click to expand...

Then let me ask you this. If you get a number, what good is it for you? What are you going to use it for? What if you need to calculate something that requires a similar strategy, but you can't use it because you only know how to regurgitate the previous answer? It doesn't do you any good. But a generic equation that you can use over, and over, and over again, can produce many answers.

The beauty of algebra is that you're not really multiplying 2 by x. Because you can't multiply a number by something you don't know. What you're actually doing is suggesting that 2 should be multiplied by a number, if and when you find out what it is.

I like it when math is extended to more than arabic number representations. It makes math...multi-dimensional.
 
I like Algebra :wacky:

Its chemistry I am going to be scared of, I am going to be a Doctor so I have to do this and understand it very well :ahmed:
 
Kill yourself now OP. You have no idea how hard it's going to be in the future.
Calculus, physics, statistics, chemistry, and don't dream of having a career in medicine: drug calculations (aka, you just killed somebody), chemical measurements (so that's why my tests are coming back vanco resistant).

FYI: For those going into medicine, spend every waking moment of your teenage life studying math and chemistry. There are tons of resources on the web that will give you a headstart (MIT opencourseware). You will need a headstart before taking college classes. Don't depend on highschool.
 
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