WHAT IS ALGEBRA ANYWAYS

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WHAT IS ALGEBRA ANYWAYS?

• A Little Bit of History

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THE FATHER OF ALGEBRA

• Abu Jafar Muhammad Ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi

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ALGEBRA

• Mohammad ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi of Baghdad wrote a
  book with the Arabic title Hisab al-jabr
  w'al-muqabala which translates to
• The Compendious Book on Calculation by
  Completion and Balancing.
• The term al-jabr is where we get our term algebra
  but it translates to the word completion.
• Completion meaning an operation moving a negative
  quantity from one side of the equation to the
  other side with changing its sign.

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ALGEBRA cont.

• The term al-muqabala is the other term that helps
  describe what we do in our algebra classes.
• Al-muqabala means subtraction of the same
  positive quantity from both sides.
• These terms describe what we do
• when we solve equations.

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ENGLISH DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF ALGEBRA

• algebra (al'j?-br?)
• n. A branch of mathematics in which symbols,
  usually letters of the alphabet, represent
  numbers or members of a specified set and are
  used to represent quantities and to express
  general relationships that hold for all members
  of the set.

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WHY LEARN ALGEBRA?

• Careers today demand skills like,
• Problem solving
• Reasoning
• Decision-making
• Applying strategies
• Algebra provides a great grounding in these
  skills!

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WHY LEARN ALGEBRA?

• Colleges and trade schools as well as some
  employers demand that you have taken an Algebra
  class.
• Algebra is used in many technical fields and can
  prepare you for a wide range of careers.

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WHY LEARN ALGEBRA?

• Algebra is
• A way to increase mathematical skills
• A great mental workout
• The path to more advanced mathematics
• A way to solve many real-life situations
• ENJOY ALGEBRA!