Math
Properties:
Understanding
the properties
of real numbers
is incredibly
useful
for each one of
us.
Numbers
impact our
lives in
thousands of
ways on a daily
basis.
But . . .
although
Numbers
are used for
thousands of
different
purposes, their
underlying
properties are
the same for
all
situations.
(Numbers behave
exactly the
same way
whether you are
calculating the
sales tax on
your grocery
receipt,
measuring the
length of a
table, looking
at a clock, or
charting the
stock
market.)
This is
quite
an
advantage.
We only
need to
learn
one
small
set of
principles.
In addition,
the
variables
used in
algebra
behave
the same way
numbers
behave
- because
variables
represent
numbers.
If you
understand
arithmetic
thoroughly, you
automatically
understand the
mechanics of
algebra
. . .
without
learning
anything
new.
The application
of Algebra to
solve math
problems does
require
additional
study, but the
mechanics of
Algebra
(addition,
multiplication,
combining
fractions,
etc.) is
exactly the
same as the
mechanics of
arithmetic.