What is algebra
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Algebra involves using symbols to represent values in order to solve word problems. Letters are commonly used as symbols. For example, in a word problem where John has 2 pencils and Alan has 3 more pencils than John, the letter A can represent the number of pencils John has. Then the number of pencils Alan has is written as A + 3. Adding the pencils for John and Alan gives the total, which is calculated as 2A + 3 = 7 pencils.
What is algebra
- 2. What is Algebra? Algebra is a branch of mathematics which involves using symbols to represent values Symbols that are commonly used to solve word problems are letters(eg. A, B, m, n, x, y etc) So how exactly do we do that?
- 3. Example Take a look at this example: John has 2 pencils and Alan has 3 more pencils than John. How many pencils do the both of them have altogether? Here, we have 2 different values, which is number of pencils John has and number of pencils Alan has. For the purpose of this example, we will be using the letter “A” to represent the number of pencils John has.
- 4. Solving the question So, Let A be the number of pencils John has. Writing this statement is necessary for using Algebra to solve problem sums. Number of pencils Alan has = A + 3 I can say this because the example states that Alan has 3 more pencils than John, and since A is the number of pencils John has, we can say that number of pencils Alan has is 3 more than A.
- 5. Solving the question Hence, number of pencils the both of them have would be A(number of pencils John has) + A+3(number of pencils Alan has) A+A+3 is the same as 2A+3(Just like how 2+2 = 2 x 2) And since the question tells us that John has 2 pencils, A=2. Thus, 2A+3= 2 x 2 +3= 7 So the number of pencils John and Alan have altogether is 7.
- 6. Conclusion I hope you have understood the basic concepts of Algebra, which is using symbols to represent values, through looking at the example. Of course, don’t expect real problem sums in tests to be this easy as this was just an example question to show how Algebra works.