Talk:Algebra
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[edit] Simple Algebra?
Am I the only one concerned about the fact that algebra is not "a part of math (mathematics) where letters (a,b,c,...) or other symbols are used to stand for unknown numbers."? Aside from rudimentary arithmetic, there is no part of mathematics which is not developed with the use of letters and symbols. Algebra is the field of mathematics concerned with the study of sets with operations and/or relations defined on them. Maybe this article should be renamed High School Algebra or something of the sort. 18:52, 8 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Division Notation
Does anyone else have a problem with this or is it just me;
- In Algebra, dividing y by z is written as y */* z or y/z. y/z is more commonly used.
It seems too confusing even for unsimple WP. ;-) Hydnjo 17:51, 6 May 2005 (UTC)
- Not to me. Not being a genius; I don't understand half of the article and the rest besides that, but I think it means that taking the unknown y and "cutting it out in equal pieces" to unknown number Z, is written as Y asterix-slash-asterox Z or just simply Y/Z. It's just that simple; As sayin'100/10, obviously it will be, let's say, 100 cakes for 10 people, a.k.a. dividing it fairly, and it becomes 10 cakes for every 1 people. But I could've had a problem with this. I don't grasphow they can find out the unknown numbers trough letters, STILL, however. I wish I knew. Gasp. --KommunistSympathizer 23:25, 23 July 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Function Operator
Parentheses after a single letter tend to indicate a function, as in y(z), not multiplication. If intended to represent multiplication, some sort of symbol should be used in between the two.
- I realized that too, but that is fairly advanced level thinking compared to this article. Initially, parentheses are used to represent multiplication. The article does say that the usual form doesn't involve parentheses which I am willing to live with. -- Ricky81682 (talk) 17:47, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Parenthesis after a single letter can at times indicate a function and can at times indicate multiplication (as stated in the article). Context is what is important here, if the context is the least bit unclear then use a convention for multiplication that will avoid any confusion. -- Barrie
