TI-89 vs TI-84: A buyer's guide Students typically have to purchase a graphing calculator for high school and college...So the question becomes: Which one? Texas Instruments are often the go-to for instructors. They've been around for a long time (the calculators, that is) and most instructors were trained on these devices. So let's put two of the most commonly considered calculators head to head: the TI-89 vs TI-84 Plus CE. -Watch the comparison video       TI-89 vs ...

Very cool video about how just a few minutes of a computer game, which involves no numbers, can help kids with school based math. Check this out: https://youtu.be/LFR3J9KQsNo

A battery in the shape of a perfect cylinder has a volume of 15 cm³. Its height is 6 cm. Find the radius of the battery. h= 6 cm volume= 15 cm³ We know the formula for the volume of a cylinder is:Continue Reading Volume of a cylinder

Imagine a question about average speed...take a sailboat race that spans 750 miles and is completed in 3 days, 20 hrs and 13 minutes. What is the average speed of this boat in miles per hour? Conversion factors are very helpful in questions like this, along the same lines as dimensional analysis that is often used in chemistry. First, convert the time to hours: We use conversion factors because they help us convert multiple types of units. Here, I have deleted the units that can...

Let's start with the general equations of: Y=A sin (B(x-c))+D In this post, we'll talk about the B term. This term helps us find the period, the distance required to complete one cycle. It multiplies the angle. For example y=sin(90°) or in radians, y=sin (π/2) is 1. But if you make B=2 instead of 1 (not shown but assumed in the previous equation), it now looks like y=sin(2(90°) which simplifies to y=sin(2(180°). Or in radians, y=sin(2(π/2)) which simplifies to y=sin(π). These now equal...

In algebra 1 and algebra 2, the topic of one to one functions often comes up. We know that if a function is one to one, it has an inverse, which can be useful knowledge. Graphical approaches: Use horizontal and vertical line tests. Draw a vertical line through the graph and it should only intersect with function at one point. Draw a horizontal line through the graph and it should only intersect at one point. example of a function that is not one to one (fails horizontal line test): e...

Our basic y=sin (x) function looks like this, with the y axis coming in increments of 1 and the x axis coming in increments of π . Now, what happens if the coefficient of sin(x) is changed from 1 (assumed but not written) to -1?   Here's a gif of it... all the y-coordinates are now negative where they were previously positive in y=sin(x). And for y=sin(x) all y coordinates which were negative are now positive.   If we looks at a function such a...

Most students in Algebra II are comfortable using degrees, as that was typically included in their previous geometry course. Radians are an alternative way to measure angles and their refer to the length of the arc on the unit circle for a given angle. For example, a 45 degree angle corresponds to π/4 radians. Think of it like this: the circumference of a circle is 2πr and with a unit circle having a radius of 1, the circumference is 2π. Thus, a circle has 360 degrees or 2πr. Now, an 1/8 of ...