Posted: July 8th, 2013
Mathematics,
1- A fellow 085 student comes to you and asks you why 6x^4 * 5x^3 does NOT equal 30x^12. She say, “If you multiply the coefficients, then you should multiply the exponents too, right?” Write a paragraph explaining to her why her reasoning does not work. You cannot say “The
Product Rule says that you add the exponents”. Assume the student doesn’t understand or even believe in the rule
2- Your
best friend says her
aced 085 years ago and he thins that (6x^4)^3 = 18x^7. Write a paragraph pointing out his mistake and explain how he should think about the problem. Again, do not refer to the “rule in the book”
3- Write a paragraph on why we
simplify p^4+3p^4 but we can’t
simplify p^4+4p^3. Use the distributive property in your explanation of both proble