Language of Mathematics III (85): Factoring: Part 4 - Simple Trinomial Factoring

Table of contents listing all instructional math videos available from Chycho TV at http://www.chycho.com/?q=math_Table_Contents

List of videos that are available for download at http://www.chycho.com/?q=math_download_chycho

INTRODUCTION:
http://www.chycho.com/?q=Introduction_Instructions

During the last few years the education systems in Canada and the United States have been eroding. Students have been crammed into larger class sizes while the quality of teaching has deteriorated, in large part due to a lack of funding from local and federal governments.

John Ralston Saul, one of Canada's most celebrated authors and essayist, has warned us that "Canada's democracy... is eroding with every dime deducted from education budgets."

I have stated previously that I believe "as a collective we must understand that democracy can only exist in a society with an educated populace, and the right for self-governance can only be obtained through knowledge." I also believe that as long as the Internet remains Neutral, we, as a global community, can make a difference. We can fill the gap left behind by our governments and be proactive in educating our children

Sharing our communal experiences and knowledge is the essence of the Internet and chycho.com is proud to be a part of this movement. The information contained and conveyed through this medium is what will shape our future, and this site was created to represent a unique personal perspective and to contribute in bringing about positive changes.

As a result I have decide to produce instructional math videos to help those that want to improve their abilities in communicating in the language of mathematics. The videos are available on Chycho TV Located in the top right corner of http://www.chycho.com. Even though these videos are geared towards high school students, they will also help those in elementary school and those that are struggling with certain college and university courses.

The format of the videos is as follows: Lessons are in large part self contained and most have exercises which should be completed before proceeding to the next lesson. To help people understand a specific topic I have included answers to the exercises.

During the next few weeks and months, possibly years, I hope to be able to provide a vast library of resources for those that wish to finally understand the language of mathematics.

If there are certain areas that you are having problems with or wish me to discuss further then please send me a message or post a comment at my website. Even though I can not guarantee that I will be able to properly represent a topic I will try my best to produce a lesson if there is strong enough demand for a specific topic.

I hope these videos will help people learn how to communicate in the language that we have chosen to understand the world around us in a scientific manner, in the language of mathematics.

Best

Chycho
http://www.chycho.com/

Category:

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[rccaulfield]

Thank you! Great job on the math vids by the way- some nice touches! Makes me wanna cover the graffitti around here with some great equations lol!

[chychochycho]

My pleasure man, and just in case you do hit up the graffiti, just don't destroy/cover any of the sweet art out there... complementing would be appreciated I'm sure :) 

[rccaulfield]

why do 2 things multiplied together giving zero separate out to be equal to zero individually then? Eg(x+17)(x-4)=0, separates into x=-17 and 4? But what i can't understand is say 3 times 0 equals zero then i shouldn't seprate this sum out to being 3=0 and 0=0? If it is because one variable Must = 0 then one solution is always incorrect but which one? Hope i'm making sense and its not a stupid question-Rob.

[chychochycho]

It's not a stupid question Rob, but you did answer it yourself when you asked the question. The word you have to focus on is "variable". Neither 3 nor 0 are variables. They are just numbers, so there is nothing to solve for. We use this property when we are trying to find an unknown.

Hope that answers your question, if not let me know and I'll try and find the videos from Series IIIa where I talk about this a little further.

[rccaulfield]

@chychochycho Thanks for reply! I suppose that leads me to wonder where this idea of separating the 2 variables out so that they =0 comes from logically and/or historically? I'm concerned this isn't a logical step and that someone just "came up"l(ol) with this idea in order to keep things moving. That was always my problem with math in school, no teacher could explain any of the mechanisms/logical reasons behind steps like these, which left me thinking it was pure nonsense at the time :D

[chychochycho]

There is most definitely logic behind this. The only way that you can multiply things together to give you zero is if at least one of them in zero. This is not true for any other number. There are an infinite number of choices for all the terms if they multiply to give you anything else other than zero, and they would all be dependent on each other.

ex. (x)(y)=2, if x=2, then y must be = 1, if x=1/2, y=4, etc

ex. (x)(y)=0... if x=0, then y=whatever you want... x=0 is not dependent on y

[rccaulfield]

@rccaulfield yea of course i'm on about maybe racist stuff etc etc- i love some of the murals people put up!