A rancher has 48 meters of wire to make a pen for his cows...

yes, I see it now. Thanks yours is a better approach. Easier at least for me.
 
I know what the distributve property is . I have in fact studied all of the properties. I was confused by the way skeeter set his work up equaling everything along one line. Just that Otis. You can test me right now on it .
 
I'm familiar with the so called FOIL method all that. Piece of cake for me. I hear myself saying it a little bit proudly. Lol. I have put in the hours as you well know but I am not good yet. I'll get there. Sometimes it takes a while for something to register and a couple of questions.
 
But I believe the Eddy today is a far cry from the Eddy that started his first post here.
 
eddy2017 said:
I was confused by the way skeeter set his work up
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That statement seems to be the opposite of what you'd posted.

eddy2017 said:
it takes a while for something to register
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Years?

Dr. Peterson and I have told you that jumping back and forth between unrelated exercises from different branches of mathematics is a terrible way to learn math. I think one of the main reasons why you've been going in circles here is because you never give your brain a chance to encode information before it has to run off to something entirely new.

Your brain needs to be exposed to many variations of the same patterns. That won't happen by doing one or two exercises. You ought to be doing dozens of exercises covering the same topic.

Another issue is reading comprehension.

[imath]\;[/imath]
 
I agree. But I'm not in school. I am studying on my own. Maybe it is because of that. And, Otis, don't forget I am prepping for a timed test where different skills are going to be measured.
 
Everything I am doing is within the realm of pre-Algebra and Algebra 1. I'm moving in this realm so every exercise or problem is good practice for my brain. Anyways, I have seen most Algebra is interconnected.
 
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But it is not like I'm not following a method. I have found a site called IXL math and they list the math skills for different grades. I am also doing 6 7 and 8 skills right now. But sometimes I browse a little bit and see a problem I would like to know how to solve and then I ask for your help. I may not be attending school but you all will be hard pressed to find a student so immersed into the subject as me and someone who devotes his entire free time to do this.
 
I know I am not good at math but I like it and try to learn it. I respect you all deeply. If somehow you decide not to help is okay and I will respect your decision.
One thing i will never do again ( I promised the moderator mmm) and I intended to keep my promise is not to blow my stack again or get desperate again even if you make fun of me or criticize my lack of math knowledge It is not fair for you and it is not certainly fair for me. Neither deserve that.
 
But now that I am a teacher I know that a good teacher would never give up on a student like me. We are far and few between. But not every one is a teacher and have the patience and love for teaching
 
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eddy2017 said:
you all will be hard pressed to find a student so immersed into the subject as me and someone who devotes his entire free time to do this.
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Yet, something is not right. You post an exercise. After much struggling, you declare that you "get it". Several months later, you post the same exercise, and you can't even begin. If you don't view that as an issue, then so be it.

My comments are not personal attacks. They are observations and constructive criticisms.

I can't really help people who are unwilling to accept constructive criticism.

?
 
Post #21 -2W^2.
Yes, I am doing all my exercises on paper. Sometimes because of time and of necessity I have to type on my cell, and I know that is bad but have no choice, but for the most part, yes pen and paper. That is part of the advice you have given me. Sometimes, I may say I understand something entirely because I am on the phone replying so you do not think I do not care about your reply, but then, on second looks, something may come up that I don't not understand. Hindsight happens to every one in every field, let alone in math. I am not perfect. I am a learner not going to school. That has bee settled long ago. Prepping for math on my own. Need to take a test and I can take it as many times as I want to as long as i pay 150 dollars for it. I have not taken it yet. I want to give me more time. I have a job now and and it is not back-breaking. It is a decent job. I'm not pressed for time. I even can enjoy math without pressure and not become a teacher. I am an ESOL teacher now with same salary and benefits as the math teachers. But I want to take the test, anyways. Get the certificate and then decide which way I want to go. First , someone told me to go for math because there were lots of jobs available, but then Covid and more immigrants into the country opened up new doors for me in the same field I have always worked in. Teaching English as a secondary Language. In this case, using my knowledge of Spanish and French to teach English to immigrants or as it is known in the lingo ELL.
If there is a tutor out there that gets picky and does not accept any mistakes or whatever he/she may consider mistakes or may think I am forgetting something that has already been taught it is his/her prerogative not to explain anything else to me. I keep enjoying math, enjoying my mistakes because when I err I learn and they can easily ignore me. As I have seen by the visits to my threads, people who browse the forum, enjoys the heck out of them.
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And I should not say this but I know you know: I have seen math teachers make basic mistakes in for example the use of signs. just to mention one mistake out of many I have been able to detect. CREDENTIALED TEACHERS!.
 
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eddy2017 said:
A Hispanic teacher explained another way to say this, but for the life of me i did not make head or tail of it. i am bringing it here just as he explained it to see if you can help me decipher all this and understand the why of some things he explained. This is a totally different way that skeeter used, which for me it was way more clear.
my rough translation of what he said and did:
Well, here it is:

The area measure S of the rectangle is xy. S is a function of two variables. S(x;y)=xy
We know the equation 2x+y=48
We can therefore calculate y as a function of x.
y=48-2x
so S is a function of the single variable x.
Once S(x) is calculated, we look for its maximum. Either by calculating the derivative S' and drawing up the table of variations of S, or, S being a second degree trinomial of the variable x, by returning to its canonical form.

ile_TEX.cgi

ile_TEX.cgi

ile_TEX.cgi


The maximum area is 288 SINCE x=12 and y=24

I don't understand what he did.
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Don’t worry about it. He is applying calculus, which is one way to solve this problem, but not necessary here because it can be solved by algebra alone.

I wrote a similar answer, but deleted it because skeeter‘s answer is much simpler. If you are very comfortable with calculus, you may tend to use it when less powerful techniques will work.
 
Thank you, Mr Jeff. Small wonder it just went over my head, lol.
 
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JeffM said:
He is applying calculus, which is one way to solve this problem
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He also shows an algebraic method, Jeff, where he manipulates the quadratic equation into vertex form (revealing the parabola's maximum y-coordinate, as you know).

Completing the square could be something that Eddy will be tested on. (I had to learn it in middle school.) I'll wait to see where his lesson plan takes him.

[imath]\;[/imath]
 
Otis

I recognized that, but conversion to “canonical form“ etc is still more complex than skeeter’s method, which needs nothing more than the definition of a rectangle and the formula for the area of a rectangle.

Explaining to students that there are alternative methods is good, but it seems to me that what was being done to Eddy was mystification rather than illumination. Talking about derivatives to a student who is starting out in elementary algebra is talking down to the student (admittedly perhaps unintentionally).

As I said, once I saw the simplicity of skeeter’s approach, I deleted my own post.

I doubt you and I disagree on the fundamental issue that students should be encouraged to believe they CAN solve problems in algebra using algebra.
 
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