The Top Ten List of Algebra Mistakes

[Rachman1337]

I'm in Calculus 4 at the University of Michigan.

And the hardest part of the class is the algebra.

[123patriotsfan]

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[iampeeay01]

LOL.. thanks so much for sharing this video... :)

[weissarthur]

Great video! I hope you dont mind, but I've placed this on the Algebra 4 All social networking site. We are also a non-profit (free) site dedicated to "all things algebra and education". We have a page where we collect great algebra videos for people to use and this works perfectly there.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to sharing the link to thinkwell with our growing membership:)

[cantbackdown123]

i was watching vids of u from my school website u r funny my mom told me to study from this extra help thing and i came across u lol

[DatenshiZ]

hm high school math...

[Jcuchiha1000]

dude your such a nerd lol

[MissDJ]

you're a great teacher... but i know i'll forget how to do this by tomorrow... also i get lost right after simplying, upto the point of graphing.. so basically if i get everything wrong in the end it doesn't matter that i'm on the right track for the first half...

[kdmq]

Why did the write the A and B in the logs in #9 like they're the base of the logs? LOL

[hougy5]

#2 is wrong. It should be (-5), not -5. If it was -5^2, the answer would be -25.

[7rancisco1]

whoever makes these mistakes are ignorant

[idonthaveausername4]

i swear -8^2 is 64 though? :/

[7rancisco1]

@idonthaveausername4 nope, the negative is outside the paranthesis of the 8 (it's just that we don't bother writting em: -(8)^2 = -(8*8)

[idonthaveausername4]

@7rancisco1 ahh thanks for your help

Also, how come x-(3+x) doesn't = x-3+x?

[7rancisco1]

@idonthaveausername4 X-(3+x) is the same as x-1(3+x, we then distribute the "-1" equalling: x-3-x, then we further simplify by adding like-terms: which would equal =-3

[hougy5]

@idonthaveausername4

x-(3+x) = x-3-x because of the negative sign before the parenthesis. Technically, the answer is just -3 since the "x" and "-x" cancel out,

[strawberrysomethings]

Whaaaaat a cutie!

[SpellingErrur]

Thanks for this videos ! It was really helpful with those tricky algebra manipulations !

[bandguy281]

like this if your sent here by your UT math review

[ThinkwellVids]

@bandguy281 Hook 'em! (we're based in Austin)

[lxdannydxl100]

When i was in Algebra, My teacher forgot to tell me to do order of operations left to right -_-. My entire rest of the year was ruined.

[PrincessAvril10101]

I had watch this and record which #s I made mistakes on

10 6 4 2

I hope I get these points

[ThinkwellVids]

@PrincessAvril10101 That is what I love about this video. It lets you know you aren't alone in making these mistakes and reminds you of them so you can avoid them in the future. Good luck!

[amjPeace]

I had to favorite this video, it cracks me up! I can't wait to show my students! TFS!

[leftcoast562]

very entertaining

[StreamingKnowledge]

David Letterman

[ThinkwellVids]

@bestmathematicstutor That's why kids should take our courses! All of our teachers are entertaining and engaging!

[JoaoBirkhoff886]

DL the audio from this tune at tubepull doht cohm.

[utube101100]

@ ThinkwellVids: Are these real songs or are these made up songs with scenes or clips from movies?

[ThinkwellVids]

@utube101100 The clips and songs are unrelated. We had some local musicians make the songs.

[Moshikashitenai]

I feel like a huge nerd for watching this, but I can see how it would be very helpful ^_^

[chh5555]

Good stuff! Very creative and funny, you have great musicians on staff!

[MrReymark16]

nice one ZIMZAMBOB!

[GlorifiedTruth]

.99999 thumbs up for the math. 0.00001 thumbs up for the music.

[RikJamezBich]

why was x to the fourth not (x) (x) (x) (x) ?

[anonymous345]

@RikJamezBich

it is that

pay closer attention to the video

[RikJamezBich]

@anonymous345 No I think I've seen enough thanks.

[nomadseawolf]

If I had this when I was in high school I'd have graduated.

[LongLiveTheKOP]

He's so CORNY!!! But he's the best math teacher I've ever had. <3

~*B*~

[larmoejr]

While FOIL is a great acronym when dealing with multiplying binomials, it doesn't help when multiplying larger polynomials. In fact, learning FOIL without realizing while it works creates more mistakes. 

Also #2 in the video is wrong. X^2 = 25 is not x = 5 AND x =-5, it is x = 5 or x =-5. It matters,

[Archerxx1]

I bet your the most fun teacher in the math department where you work :P

[broozbehani]

Nice, funny and informative. Students even i high school need this.

[edv11nas]

Wow, your'e a really nice guy ;)

In liithuania mistakes are similar ;D What a small world.

BTW, thanks, just because of you I finally know what dx (I'm talking about derivatives) means. Before it was just dx that I have to write when doing stuff with functions :D

[ThinkwellVids]

@edv11nas Glad Professor Burger could help you out! I've met him and he is truly a nice guy who loves math.

[joshuazucker]

I might also argue that "x = 5 and x = -5" can't be true, and they should say "x = 5 or x = -5" instead.

[joshuazucker]

Shouldn't it have said log(a+b) is not equal to log(a) + log(b)? It looked like they were writing the a and b as subscripts, as though they were logs to different bases, but I don't think that's what they were trying to say (all the logs should be to the same base.)

[zimzambob]

I feel like such a nerd for doing this lmao but here it is:

For all the idiots who say #10 and #2 contradict themselves are completely wrong.

#10:

-8^2 IS NOT (-8)^2. Without the parenthesis, -8^2 = (-1)(8)(8), which equals -64. Do you guys see it now? (-8)^2 = (-8)(-8) = 64, which is 100% correct. I see where you guys are coming from, but thats why its a top 10 mistake.

#2:

5*5 = 25, -5 * -5 = 25. What's wrong? How does this contradict #10?

[ThinkwellVids]

@zimzambob Thanks for your explanation. After all, this video is about the top 10 algebra mistakes. :)

[Austin101123]

@zimzambob then how come when i put it into a calculator, negative 8 squared equals 64? OOOOO

[zimzambob]

@Austin101123

it doesn't, it comes out at -64. If you put -8 in parenthesis it comes out as 64...

[Austin101123]

@zimzambob was it in parenthesis in the video?

[zimzambob]

@Austin101123

yeah, the mistake said -8 = 64, lol.

[agemo2007ed]

@zimzambob man I feel sorry for you after seeing all these people (idiots?) replying to complain about how -8 * -8 does = 64 even after seeing your explanation.

[xAstronomy]

college algebra? w00t, i learned that stuff in 8th grade

[ThinkwellVids]

@xAstronomy Then you should be well prepared when you go to college!!

[xAstronomy]

@ThinkwellVids in my country we study harder maths on younger ages, its nothing to be proud of though, its so damn hard to study advance subjects on such early age! xD

[TheAgentbrady101]

@xAstronomy 7th :) im a showoff :( math is awesome :D

[Austin101123]

how does -8x-8 not equal 64????? i though -x-=+ and 8x8=64 so -8x-8 MUST= 64

[ThinkwellVids]

@Austin101123 Don't forget to use PEMDAS!

[MrAnaglyph]

@Austin101123

(-8) X (-8) = 64

but the question does NOT include the negative (no parenthesis)

So,

-8^2 = THE NEGATIVE RESULT OF 8 SQUARED or - (8)^2 = 8^2 = 64,

tack on the negative, = -64

[richardtherichard]

is it me. or do i feel like a nerd watching this. along w/ the 53,457 other ppl that watched this.

[Gintable]

The depiction of the number 10 mistake is incorrect.

-8^2 indicates that you first square the 8 and then apply the negative sign. -8^2 = -64.

(-8)^2 is what you intended to write. (-8)^2 = 64, because you square both the 8 and the negative 1. Negative 1 squared equals 1, thus making it positive.

[thumper88888]

it is correct . see the ≠ ?

[Gintable]

@thumper88888

ooops, my bad

[alexr415]

@Gintable You are actually wrong, This video is correct because -8^2≠64. You forget the reason for why they use parentheses in math. Writing (-8)^2 is different from writting (-1)(8)^2... look

(-8)^2 = [(-1)(8)]^2 = 64

(-1)(8)^2 = -8^2 = -64 = (-1)(64)

the difference is PEMDAS... the difference is you must use parentheses to make a distinction.

He should have also written the right answers...

[xxCCBBxx]

ALL the people who say these are not true don't know what they are talking about...

[bluestar249000]

i dont get #6 how do you mistake that

[xvtr9173]

#10 is just wrong. The - sign signifies a negative number as a single quantity. Any quanity squared is positive. -8 * -8 = 64. The -8 is a single negative quanity and could be used in a function f(-8). What if f(x) is x^2?

[JRONII]

Not to beat the dead horse or anything but...

Prof Burger says:

"A minus ain't squared unless it's been snared"

snared is referring to parenthesis... (-8)^2

[xvtr9173]

That is because he believe in the illogical and flawed idea the - signifies an operation with lower precedence than the square.

You don't have to accept this flawed and illogical concept which is rejected by many.

This flawed concept results in the flawed idea that there is no such thing as NEGATIVE NUMBERS.

If I see -8^2 = -64, I'm marking it WRONG!

[JRONII]

I see that you care more than me lol, argue it all you want, I'm going with what gets me a good grade ;)

[xvtr9173]

Not if I'm your professor, I'm taking points off.

[JRONII]

IF you were my professor, I would take that into consideration!

[xxCCBBxx]

@xvtr9173 its the opposite of eight squared if you dont do parentheses... PEMDAS

[coffeescup]

spread the negativity ooooh :)

[Kingnaster74]

Don't forget to FOIL Damnit!

[poopopoop]

Judging by the comments, I'd say that #10 should have been #1 lol.

[SirrusTheCool]

-8^2 is the opposite of eight squared.

ergo -64

(-8)^2 is 64.

[xvtr9173]

the - is not an operation, it signifies a negative number "negative eight squared". Negative numbers do exist.

[Dillonsingslulz]

I was expecting getting negatives and positives mixed up.

[ppardee]

I don't think those were real songs.

[TourmalineOpal]

They weren't. I guess they wanted to teach algebra in a way to make it entertaining.

[davidc152]

oh gosh, your funny

[davidgo24]

please be my teacher! plz!! i beg!

[AV8OR73]

-8 squared is = 64

[FamasRoxSox]

@AV8OR73 your talking about (-8)^2 while he made it -8^2 which is -(8^2) because of order of operations

[grimchain]

nope your wrong. (-8)^2=64 not -8^2

[xmorg]

@AV8OR73 No (-8) squared = 64

[xFactorEle]

well... isnt it?

thats -8 x -8 which is 64 due to double negatives

[dragorage67]

well its really (-1)8^2=-64.

if it was in parenthesis like (-8)^2 it would equal 64

[johnny7782]

@xFactorEle

No. Think of it like this: -(8^2), which is -64.

(-8)^2 is 64. The parentheses matter a lot.

[halfabubbleoff4u]

@xFactorEle

It's the "Order of operations". You are correct that if it was (-8)^2 or (-8)*(-8) then it would be 64. However -8^2 is in reality -(8*8) which becomes -(64) which becomes -64. You have to calculate all of the exponents before you multiply.

[MasterThief1324]

Love it!

[coolaid2471]

what???????

[initvesa]

Dang I got re-introduced to a bunch of mistakes that I am not even aware of anymore!

[jasonfu6699]

How does each song know what place it's in on the charts?

Hm.....

[kirabeera101]

The next Bill Nye..

[Visoball5550]

Higher Education= Higher Income= High Value to life

[aaahhhhaaaahhhh]

I love and hate math at the sametime anyone feel the same?

math is a technical pyramid and if you dont know one piece of the piramid you wont be able to grasp it.

[KurisuBlaze]

So given x is a factor of how much one loves math, on a scale of -10 to +10, with -10 meaning HAET and +10 being LUV...

...would x^2 be somewhere between 81 and 100?

[Cav3man93]

x = +- 9

for me :)

i agree with

aaahhhhaaaahhhh

[bulgogi123ify]

no i just hate it lol. wish i liked then maybe i would be better at it. :)

[nao1163]

@aaahhhhaaaahhhh i love maths when i understand but hate it when i dont get anything loll

[almonds2knitt]

@aaahhhhaaaahhhh yes i do

[Nadrealis]

@aaahhhhaaaahhhh TOTALLY agree.

[SuicidalWaltDisney]

Lol. I thought it was funny!

[ohmermaidme]

god this guy is funny, I just love watching the videos for algebra , plus i got the song "add to y go high, add to x go west" lol

[CandyHam]

wtf lololol

[hrady44]

thanks man i'm starting  this tipe of math

[TheBerryBus]

i love his name ^^

[JujuXG]

what's the difference between two and ten? Can someone please explain it to me?

[Samboughtyourrface]

LMAO @ #4. all these songs are awesome! ahaha. 5/5

[GDelva2003]

#2 contradicts #10...

[iamdabomb18]

No, there's no parenthesis. -8^2 does not equal 64, but (-8)^2 does.

[GDelva2003]

but doesn't -8x-8=64?

[iamdabomb18]

Yes, but by PEMDAS, if you say -8^2 you have to apply the exponent first. In other words, it's -(8^2), or -(64), -64, NOT 64.

[thevideoman9]

i dont get how # 6 is wrong...

[iamdabomb18]

It's not. They wrote it the correct way. The wrong way would be saying x to the fourth power = 4x.

[tomtrk1]

tomtrk 1: For algebra I students most of the concepts were right on Thanks

[marcusjhung]

WTF number ten is correct. what are they talking about?!

[0loewe1]

(-8)^2 = 64

8^2 = 64 ---> -(8)^2=-8^2=-64

[mahones64]

Prof Burger is the best Math teacher I have ever encountered....

The Bill Nye of Math at times

WGU rules!

[caesiume]

hmmm so sexy

[ukidding]

dividing by 0

should make an appearance

[JONK1NG]

it would have been more effective if he would have shown the problem at hand, the common mistake made, and the correct answer after.

[ThinkwellVids]

Thanks for your comment!

It's a good point, and that's exactly how he handles it in the course. This is just a introduction to the ideas that he goes on to explain in conjunction with actual examples.

[numanuma20]

Ed Burgers is the king of nerds.

[GenericReb420]

This guy teaches me Algebra.

[Visoball5550]

the canceling mistake killed part of my algebra 1 grade haha.

[kami645464]

I don't really get that #10. The problem with me is that if e.g. you have the formula:

v^2=u^2+2as

0^2=4^2+2*2s

if you take the 4^2 to the left is that going to be 16 on the left or (-16)?

If you can please explain with a rule. Thank you in advance.

[ItsFootballNotSoccer]

-8^2 is saying the negative of 8^2 (which is -64) rather than (-8)^2 (which is 64). if u take 4^2 to the left, it becomes negative.

it might be easier to think of it as (-1)(8^2)

[osmark90]

what!? square of -8 IS 64... isn't it? when u take two negative numbers and multiply them u get a positive number... rite?

[krishna830]

it works like this. (-8)^2 = 64.

what they were implying was -8^2 = -64

in the previous case the negative sign was held constant, therefore it stays constant throughout the expression.

end nerdiness

[safibn1]

I've made some of those mistakes before...those are usually the ones I look for anyways...and the ones which confuse me s to why I got a completely absurd answer...

~Safibn

[Dude7734]

I'm guilty of 1 and 2.

[saajanthegreat]

-8 square is not equal to 64???

how???

[JohnnyKutz]

I thought that Division by Zero would of (or 've) been included.

[Soccership07]

I Do Pre-Algerbra Thx God! XP

[RatchetHacker]

znzz

[mengky11]

lol i thought he was being stupid at the start but his right, lol!

[norwichd]

no, the #1 should have been splitting a fraction that has a minus sign in the denominator:

e.g. 1/(x-1) = 1/x - 1/1

[dahnraelz]

Can somebody explain #10 please?

[NoobSoldier2006]

you are great, please make more video

[darkuran]

My schoolmates often did those mistakes in school...

Me, not too often, but I was sometimes clumsy at tests.

I agree with wumby though, I wouldn't put that one as nr. 1.

[joerob00]

Good stuff man, I like that your putting this out there. I need someone to help me understand this stuff... SHEESH!

[VideoSuperMaster]

The #1 mistake of algebra is it's own existance.

[ipodme346]

Wait, why am i watching this?

[Shaask]

What just happened?

[jirafee]

yeah,ed youre a superstar of todays youth!!keep it up!!!

[BangLaBhaSa]

Thanks for sending me the video, I really fascinated by your creative mind to make this video.

[sp00n3d]

Goofy as hell.

[musichic01]

Someone actually wrote and recorded each of those songs.

[yugpud]

Sorry, #1 mistake is #3, cancelling when you shouldn't. Without a doubt. I demand a recount!

[jeffrey0403reigne]

true

[umbraemilitos]

I think example number ten was not correct.

-(8^2)= -64; -8^2=64.

[gruveb]

I think #3 is the mistake I see most.

[forthenguyen]

"Find X"

there it is -------> X

[system0slaven]

DONT FLIP OVER THE ROOT !!!

[applegeeks2]

I saw this guy do a talk about irrational numbers and randomness at a MathCounts competition

[Max11551]

White and nerdy.

[LunInSpectra]

such bad music but very funny :)

[scientistwriter]

lol i love this guy

[ChicagoSoul]

This video is genius!

This prof rocks my socks off

[JimmyHopkins2]

Prof. Burger is a very good math teacher...I still watch his videos for homework help, you'd be surprized how fast you can do homework after several of his video sessions.

[GoldAK47]

looooooooooool i never made these mistakes ever. Except the "Y goes high, X goes west" mistake, that was on my very first test in Functions... i got a 28% on that test :S

[moali505]

he reminds me of Bill Nye the science guy

[KarlNemetski]

I've owned all these Thinkwell DVDs for college math. Thinkwell actually offers a great series of videos. As always, I was skeptical, but the videos turned out to be worthwhile.

[InMooseWeTrust]

I have his Calculus program. He doesn't do anything this outrageous in it.

[wumby]

Yup.

He's absolutely right.

I debate FOIL being number 1, but otherwise he's got it down.

[tronv2]

well to be honest, it is a common mistake, that people would .. fair enough ... see it as just suare the X and the 3, when instead it needs to be (X-3)(X-3) ... which equals X^2-6X+9

[hylianswordsman]

lol...why would people who actually got into Williams College ever make these mistakes?

[scrollwasdftw]

no, just because he is from the College doesn't mean he can't inform people about lower division work. That'd be like saying the MIT Professor can only talk about Astrophysics and Black Holes when he wants to help out high school based physics students in a video...

[johntkucz]

ed burger sounds like a nerd, hyper-intelligent version of the "you don't know jack" host. I like this guy. He knows his stuff and presents it in an accelerated, humorous, and cool way.