Talk:Elementary algebra

message: I really don't think that this section belongs in this article. The order of operations is not introduced in algebra. It is a concept introduced with basic arithmetic. It needs a mention somehow and a link for completeness but beyond that it should be prior knowledge. Anyone think I am off-base on this one?Phancy Physicist (talk) 08:18, 10 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[elementary_algebra#operations|Operations]] 

message: This section is longer than the rest of the article and for some reason that bothers me. Maybe because it seems that the article is written in little bit of a "teachy" way. Which I don't think is necessarily bad but is this okay with  Wikipedia's style?
Since I am talking about style the presentation-style bulleted lists are giving me pause as well. Are they OK with wikipedia standards?Phancy Physicist (talk) 08:18, 10 June 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I was seeking for information about the elimination method. In a typical teachy way it is explained. I would like a link or an explanation why the method works and is allowed. I guess a link to the gaussian method would suffice... but. I think it could be explained in a more cursory way here as it is about elementary algebra. A link to the gaussian method has its problems as the readers are reading about elementary algebra and that entry would confuse most people. (English is not my first language, I hope you get what I am getting at)-- Tobbe  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.233.238.234 (talk) 14:39, 4 September 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[elementary_algebra#Algebraic examples|Algebraic examples]] 

message: "Basic algebra" redirects here but this is also a algebraic terminology: A finite-dimensional K-algebra A is basic iff every indecomposable projective module has multiplicity one in A iff all simple modules are one-dimensional. There should be a disambiguation page (and a new article for basic algebra). I could write the new article (at least a stub) but I don't know how to change the redirecting... 92.224.233.104 (talk) 20:05, 29 April 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Basic algebra 

message: Per the comments above, I've removed the section on Operations. I'm going to replace it with comments that are more relevant to algebra. --Iantresman (talk) 13:01, 20 July 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Also, can the 3.5 example for multiplication be fixed to look more like it should (3 dot 5)? hydnjo (talk) 22:07, 23 July 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: I think I've fixed, showing both the European and American forms for 3 \ .\  5   or   3 \cdot 5. --Iantresman (talk) 08:54, 24 July 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: OK, thanks. Oops, I just noticed that the same problem exists with the a.b example and there is a confusing comma just above the 3 . 5 that you fixed, hydnjo (talk) 11:40, 24 July 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for that, all done, I think. --Iantresman (talk) 12:12, 24 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Operations

message: I'm not sure what do you mean "hat describes what". For the letters, I used the term "designate". Lincoln Josh (talk) 13:30, 17 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I suppose that you are talking about section Variables. I have edited it and hope that this solves your problem. D.Lazard (talk) 16:13, 17 February 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Variables 

message: If on the off-chance these happen to help: feel free to take or leave. Thanks. M∧Ŝc2ħεИτlk 22:34, 18 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Equation balance analogy animations? 

message: Although introduction to the foundations for the techniques in axiom is important, making that the article does not reflect how elementary algebra is taught. Rather, what is being taught is a system of techniques - substitution, descriptions in terms of variables or indeterminates, and solution of an equation or isolation of a quantity. So the treatment should seek first to explain the processes, what's possible because they work, and how they integrate with one another (to constitute elementary algebra), and then to axiomatize them in order to explain why they work, or that they work in other situations where those axioms hold. ᛭ LokiClock (talk) 10:59, 13 February 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: As Wikipedia is not text book, and this article is not about pedagogy, but about mathematics, this does not matter if it does not reflect how elementary algebra is taught. On the other hand, it is important for an encyclopedia to provide to the reader a wider view on the subject than that he can find in his/her textbook. I cannot find any axiomatization in this article, and axiomatization is not relevant here: elementary algebra was widely used by mathematicians and students a long time before the introduction of axiomatization in mathematics (at the end of 19th century). I do not understand why you are talking about axiomatization. I agree that the description of the elementary methods is much too detailed here: we can describe them briefly and refer to the corresponding articles for details. On the other hand the described problems should be put in their context, and they are not. For example it should be said (and this is not said) that the linear equations are always solvable, as well that quadratic ones, and that the other equations in one variables can be solved only in very specific case (in practice, only in examples that are devised for being solvable by students). Similarly, for linear systems it should be said that the presented methods may be generalized to any number of equations and variables, and that these methods can be automatized into algorithms and computer programs. Another information of encyclopedic nature, which is lacking, is the fact that the rules for transforming and simplify expressions may be and have been automatized in computer algebra systems. All kinds know about computers. It is very strange that the mathematic teachers are reluctant to explain what is used in computer and what the computers can do in the area of their courses. Wikipedia must provide this information, because it is of encyclopedic nature. D.Lazard (talk) 20:26, 13 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Conflict with process-oriented nature of subject 

message: The article contains a section Elementary algebra#Exponential and logarithmic equations. While this may well be something that is taught in high school algebra courses, is it really part of what is called algebra? I think algebra in the elementary sense only includes the operations addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and taking n-th roots. Loraof (talk) 21:19, 19 January 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Exponential and logarithmic equations? 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Right now the article is headed by four hatnotes, dated between August 2012 and January 2013. I propose that I remove three of them:
*Needs reorganization — the current organization looks fine to me.
*May be confusing or unclear — I don’t think that’s a general problem with the article; if there are any specific confusing passages, someone could put confusing tags there.
*Doesn’t give a worldwide view — while it’s probably true that elementary algebra is taught differently in different countries, this article is not about what is taught and how; it’s about the topic of elementary algebra itself, which is a topic that is independent of location.
I think these three hatnotes should be removed. I think it’s legitimate to retain the other hatnote, saying the article contains excessive intricate detail. I don’t have an opinion about that, but I can see that someone might reasonably think so.
Loraof (talk) 17:34, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: I think you can get rid of all of them. Besides the worldwide view tag, the others were all placed at the same time by a now banned user (probable sockpuppet). While there are a couple of places where there is too much detail, I don't think that it is an overall problem. The worldwide tag comes from Hong Kong by a still active user. If he wishes to expand on this point he still can, but I agree with your statement about this. --Bill Cherowitzo  (talk) 19:47, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Hatnotes 

message: Absolute value is not mentioned here; is there any reason for that? It seems like an important topic to me. Also it might be useful to have an example of solving an inequality, and mention that the sign (< or >) has to flip when multiplying by a negative number. —Lights and freedom (talk ~ contribs) 20:03, 6 October 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Absolute value, inequalities 

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thread_title:  A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion