28.Feb.2010 Maths this week. (Oh Algebra, do behave).
This week was spent covering Algebra from an even more elementary level. We went back to the very introduction of the concept. Dad an I agreed that another week strengthening the foundations will prove invaluable when we progress to more complex subjects later.
Previously I was inconsistantly dealing with the polarity of multiplied numbers (Positive x positive = positive, Negative x negative = positive, Postive x negative = negative, Negative x positive = negative). This is much clearer to me now, but we had to go all the way back to the number line till I was satisfied with the reasoning behind these rules. I told you my knowledge was patchy!
Although it was very much a lesson of revision and clarification we also covered the following topics:
The Arithmettic of Symbols.
Powers/Indices
Substitution and Formulae
Binary (Briefly)