This post is by request from @corrincross. Exponent rules are hard. Well, they are hard to remember, anyhow. But there’s an easy way that won’t make your brain ooze – and that’s doing a mini-experiment each time you have to deal with them. First remember what an exponent really is. It’s a shortcut for multiplication. Check… Continue Reading →
Author Archives: Bon
How to Use Prime Factoring to Win Friends and Influence People
Alright, you might not win friends with this, but the more you can do arithmetic in your head… well… okay, you can’t influence people with it either. Regardless, it’s handy to know and helps with multiplication. Yesterday I posted a couple of videos about factoring numbers into primes. Now it’s time to put those to work.… Continue Reading →
2 Ways to Factor Numbers into Primes
Factoring is traditionally considered an “f-word” for students of math. But it really has its good sides. First, here’s two ways to do it with regular numbers. Continue Reading →
How to Check if a Number is Divisible by 3 or 9
Can you quickly tell if a number is divisible by 3 or by 9? With this trick you can impress everyone – well, not EVERYone, but a few anyhow. Continue Reading →
How to Free Your Students from Math Anger
Are you sick of being a prisoner to math anxiety, snide comments of math geeks and angry comments of other math haters? Declare your independence! Continue Reading →
Why Grown-ups Should Shut Their Traps about Hating Math
We want the next generation to be better than the previous generation – including math. In order for them to improve, the previous generations must either die or shut their traps. Who wants to die? Not me! So here’s how to focus on getting rid of negative math-speak. Continue Reading →
How to Calculate Permutations and Combinations
The two previous posts showed how to tell the difference between permutations and combinations and how to work with factorials. Now you’re ready to do some calculations! Continue Reading →
Permutations and Combinations – How to Tell the Difference
Have you ever been told that “In permutations, order matters”? There are lots of permutation problems where there’s no ordering whatsoever. So how can you tell?!? Here’s how. Continue Reading →
How to Pronounce n! and How to Use Factorials
You may have seen n! – and I don’t mean to scream the 14th letter of the alphabet at you. So what the heck are factorials and why do you ever need to learn them? (Guess what – the answer is in this post!) Continue Reading →
How and When You Can Manipulate Square Roots
Radicals are part of the multiplication world. They have the same properties, but because they look weird – living in little “houses” – it is hard to grasp what they can do. Here is how to manipulate and use them. Continue Reading →