T1-11?

In my mind, the names of these items are completely interchangeable:


 
                                                          source                                                                                                         source

Happy Papa Llama Day!

One of my favorite memories with my dad is also one of my favorite nerd memories- the moment I realized that advanced math has real life applications.
My dad was big on doing home remodeling projects.  As a family, we turned the duplex we owned into a single family house when I was in elementary school, knocking down walls and redecorating everything.
My senior year of high school, my dad had me help him tear out part of our porch to create a storage closet off the dining room. Since there was already a door leading out to the space (that used to be the front door of that unit) I guess he figured it might as well lead to something useful, plus it would cut down on the amount of times we would have to answer the door to solicitors by a third.

 As a teenager who is part of a government experiment, getting to take a sledgehammer to wooden uprights is downright cathartic, but then I got to help frame out the room, building everything from the studs up.  And then, since there was already a roof on the porch, I got to actually use the trigonometry I had learned the year before to figure out what angle my dad needed to miter the wood at to make the roof section fit.
I'm quite certain my dad didn't need me to do the math, he achieved a near perfect score on his SAT, he is brilliant, but I was excited to get to do the math, I even remember it as being my idea to use my trig knowledge to figure it out, and I was excited that he trusted my calculations and didn't (at least in front of me) insist on doing them himself to make sure he wasn't wasting a cut (because you always measure twice, and cut once).

I don't even recall crying once during the whole remodel, which was quite remarkable.
And the roof piece fit perfectly, for the record.

Happy Pi Day!

Mmm, 3.1415926535!

Monster Math- Variables and Demon Possession

A lot of people are afraid of algebra.  I think that it is because they don't know that algebra is just basic math dressed up in scary costumes. I mean, for the most part, it is just addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division-- it is just a matter of understanding how they are dressed up to understand the concepts.  But don't worry, I'm here to unmask the monsters of math for you, kinda like in that movie Van Helsing, only not so boring that you want to throw yourself off the balcony to avoid having to watch anymore.

Variables

Variables are like the Regan McNeil of algebra.  Each variable used to be a cute little number but then they made the bad choice to play with a Ouija board wherein Captain Howdy turns them into pea soup spitting letters of fear and uncertainty.  Yes, they seem scary, but basically are just a demon-possessed number masquerading as a letter.

With variables, your job is to figure out what number that letter used to be to free them of their demon.  Yup, each math problem where you are solving for a variable is a mini exorcism!

Suggested watching: The Exorcist, Jennifer's Body

Distributive Property

The distributive property in algebra can be likened to the movie Rosemary's Baby.  You take possessed numbers (aka variables) and their mates (should they have any) and spread their seed into the other numbers in the parentheses next door.  Once everyone is done with their multiplying orgy of the damned, you combine like terms into teams, that is, demon numbers combine by addition or subtraction, as do plain ole numbers who have avoided being possessed.  They are organized from most possessed to least possessed as follows:

(y+2) (y+2)

y²+2y+2y+4

y²+4y+4

* note- this concept works with possessing aliens also!

Suggested watching: Village of the Damned, The Stuff

Factoring

Factoring is the paternity test of algebra. Where did all these variables come from?  How do I get rid of them!? How did I get to be such a great lawyer even though I talk like a surfer pretending to have a southern accent? Well, let's take a look at who the parents REALLY were.
In factoring with variables, you want to get it so that you end up with the parents; the groups of entities that created the original problem.
To do this you separate out as much of the variable expression as you can.
VARIABLE EXPRESSION!?  Yes, variable expression...
15y² would be an example of a variable expression. It means that there are 15 double possessed y's.
y+2 would also be an example of a variable expression.
Variable expressions would be the entities I was talking about above.  In the case of horror movies, it is usually just a very religious woman and the devil. In the case below, it is 5x² and (1+4x).

5x² + 20x³

 5x²(1 + 4x)

<sup>Suggested Watching: The Devil's Advocate, Angel Heart


Stay tuned for more monster math-- Negative Numbers and Zombies - coming soon!</sup>