BOB

This was really a quick unit! I understood that it's just really comprehending what the equation is telling you. The equations have been posted a lot of times here so i won't list them here on my BOB. Anyway, here are some random things that are to be noted:

1. The general equation of a conic is .

2. Completing the square is done to convert an equation's general form to standard form.

3. An ellipse has two axes of symmetry: the major axis and the minor axis.

4. If a hyperbola is parallel to the x axis, then x^2 is positive. If it is parallel to the y axis, then y^2 is positive.

5. (h,k) is the center of the conic.

6.a is the transverse axis in a hyperbola, while b is the conjugate axis. they indicate whether the hyperbola will be opening up and down, or left and right.

7. A parabola has only one variable squared, unlike the other ones.

Okay, good luck to everyone on the test! I know we'll all do well on it. :)
Night!

BOB

This unit has passed by so quickly! Combinatorics has been an interesting unit. Unlike the previous units, I think that this unit really had me because I can easily relate it to real life. :) The binomial theorem was what really amazed me (well, i think all of us did) the most. I couldn't imagine how numbers could be related in so many different ways! Ahh, the magic of numbers. (--,)


Anyway, here are some random things that I think we should not forget:


1. The number of ways you can arrange n things is n!


2. The pick formula is used when the position of something is taken into account to solve the problem.


3. If repetitions aren't allowed, we take the total number of ways you can arrange a group of things (k!) and then DIVIDE it by the number of ways you can arrange the things that are
repeated (m!). k!/m!


4. If repetitions are allowed, then just raise the thing to the power of how many times you need it.


5. If items should be together, take the items together as one item (p!), then find the number of ways that you can arrange them. Next, take the number of ways that you can arrange the items together (q!). Multiply the two. p!q!


6. The number of circular permutations is (n-1)!


7. The choose formula is used when the order of objects doesn't matter.

8. A deck of cards has 52 cards. 13 cards for each suit. 3 face cards for each suit. 4 of each card ( 4 aces, 4 two's...)

9. If a mixture of combinations is asked, take the ways you can choose one thing and another and then multiply them.

10. In the binomial theorem, the number of terms is equal to the power of the binomial PLUS one.

BOB

(I just realized that I'm a visual learner! The youtube videos embedded in the slides help me big time. ^^)

Okay, so here we are, finishing another unit of our course, entitled EXPONENTS and LOGARITHMS. I liked this unit because it has laws and formulas that we use as tools to solve a problem. Speaking of formulas, that's where I had problems with. I didn't know what formula to use in exponential modeling because there were many that we learned. But I think I get it now. Hopefully I won't get mental block tomorrow.

Good luck to all!

Compound Interest

Last thursday, Mr K. gave us a link to over 50 ideas on how to tell a story using online gadgets with Domino's story. He also suggested the website, jamendo.com, for free and legally approved music to use for our projects. After taking some time talking about presentation ideas and things about our projects, we had a pop quiz (which our quizzes always are).

***

From the quiz, I noted the following things (which are basic things that we reviewed):

1. A fraction can be transformed into exponential form with a negative exponent. Example: 1/1000 = 1/(10^3) = 10^(-3)

2. To add (or subtract) two logs of different bases, do your best to solve each argument and then do the addition (or subtraction).

3. A LOGARITHM IS AN EXPONENT!!

4. When you have the same bases, you can equate their exponents.

5. When multiplying powers of the same base, you just add the logarithm of each factor.

6.

***

After the quiz, we had the chance to talk about compound interest. Compound interest is the concept of adding an interest back to the principal amount to get more interest. To determine compound interest, the following formula is used,

where: A = amount of money you will have in the end
P = the initial amout of money that you have
r = annual interest rate (as a decimal)
n = number of times the principle is compounded per year (1 for annually, 2 for every six months)
t = time (number of years)

Compound interest is basically plugging-in numbers into the formula. I suggest you take time to view the youtube video included in the day's slides for better explanation. :)

***

That's it for now. (--,) I choose.. trinhn as the next scribe.

MAY 1 – Make the questions

MAY 8 – Complete questions 1 and 2

MAY 15 – Complete questions 3 and 4

MAY 22 – Complete questions 5 and 6

MAY 29 – Finish Final Project and make the presentation

JUNE 7 – Final Due date

BOB

Another unit has passed and another BOB and another helpful link are to be posted. IDENTITIES. All I can say is Mr. K was right. You really have to practice to be good at this. It's just a shame that I started practicing late. Doing the exercises gave me the confidence on solving Identities. There are a lot of things to remember when proving or solving them but I really feel good when I solve one correctly. :))

Hope everyone does well on the test! Good Luck!

BOB the Second

Okay, time to make another reflection on my thoughts about the unit. First of all, the transformations unit started off easy for me.. then came the topics like the reciprocal of the graph and the word problems where I really had a hard time dealing with. I guess it just takes practice to get used to how things work with those.

The pre-test that we did today gave me a heads-up on what to expect tomorrow and it made my mind clear on stuff that I didn't really understand.

That's it for now. Good luck on the test tomorrow, everyone! :)

Graphing Absolute Value Functions

Hi guys! It's Fatima, your scribe for the day. Today, we learned about how to graph absolute value functions.


First of all, what is an absolute value? Well, an absolute value is a number's distance from zero. Hence, absolute values are always positive. Its mathematical definition is stated as follows:



Graphing absolute value functions is easy. Basically, the negative part of the graph on the y-axis should be flipped over the x-axis. There's no change in the past rules that we have first learned but note that they are to be applied in order. Here's an example:

Given the graph of y = f(x), graph the function y = -|f(x-1)|+2.

Here's how to do it step-by-step:




f(x)





First you move the graph one unit to the right as indicated by parameter B...
And then you reflect the negative part of the graph to show the effect of the
absolute value.

|f(x-1)|


Next, you reflect the whole graph over the x-axis because there's a negative sign in front of the function.

-|f(x-1)|


Lastly, you shift the graph up by 2 units.

-|f(x-1)|+2






And that's it! Sorry for taking so long for such a short post. Maybe there are some mistakes in my post so please feel free to comment because I was confused myself as I was doing this -___-

And oh, to grant her request, the next scribe will be emmelion :)

Reflection

I had a rough time at the start of the unit. Trying to remember how to get the radian equivalent of an angle had been a challenge to me but practice really helped me big time. I just hope not to disappoint myself tomorrow :)

I enjoyed this first unit. I guess it's all props to Mr. Kuropatwa as well for teaching us in very interesting ways.

I guess that's it for now.
Good luck to all of us!

And oh, remember to eat breakfast before going to school! Well, at least I will because I always eat breakfast in class..