Re:Just teach my kid the math
by bzbarsky on Monday February 19, 2018 @12:51AM
(#16411025)
Here's a simple example: Is sqrt(2)/2 or 1/sqrt(2) in "simplest form"?
The answer depends on whether you have a calculator handy. Because computing sqrt(2)/2 from a square root table and the long division algorithm is a lot easier than doing 1/sqrt(2). But on a calculator, 1/sqrt(2) is just as easy and it's simpler to write.
But at least as of the last 90s we were definitely teaching kids to put their radicals in rational-denominator form for basically "magic" reasons: the students had no idea why, and I suspect neither did most of the teachers.
The answer depends on whether you have a calculator handy. Because computing sqrt(2)/2 from a square root table and the long division algorithm is a lot easier than doing 1/sqrt(2). But on a calculator, 1/sqrt(2) is just as easy and it's simpler to write.
But at least as of the last 90s we were definitely teaching kids to put their radicals in rational-denominator form for basically "magic" reasons: the students had no idea why, and I suspect neither did most of the teachers.