Why Do Math with Letters?

Why Do Math with Letters? book cover — Translations of the Operations Figure It Out Universal Language Introduction The Full Process Figure It Out Greek to Me Solving with the Golden Rule Figure It Out Exponential Problems The Art of Algebra Figure It Out Orderly Lines Glossary Index Math Toolkit Selected Bibliography Websites Answer Key 3

Why Do Math with Letters? — page 1

Why Do Math with Letters? — page 2 — W hen you think about mathematics you probably think about a class at school where you do calculations and answer word problems But have you ever thought about math being all around you It’s in every shape and pattern you see It’s in every song you hear It’s in every game you play and any puzzle you solve The first mathematicians realized this and they looked for ways to prove it to show how order and reason could explain much about life as they knew it Sometimes this was easy to do But other times people just didn’t get it Even some of the most intelligent people in history have struggled with math Albert Einstein once wrote to a child Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics I can assure you mine are still greater So how can you use whatever you know about math in everyday life When you collect like objects as you clean your room distribute papers to your classmates or simplify a big project into smaller steps you are us ing math In such cases you are using a type of math known as algebra This branch of mathematics is concerned with interpreting math sentences so that you can find a specific unknown quantity Why do the letters of algebra work so well with numbers 5

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