Every time a teacher emphasizes formula triangles, a student loses a chance to understand math.
And I am persistently undermined when I try to teach the algebra. 🤬
I cannot get algebra buy-in from my student who's struggling ... struggling bc he can't read the language of maths ... BECAUSE he is being taught to value janky work-arounds with blind memorization instead of ANY ACTUAL UNDERSTANDING AAARRRRGGHGHHHHHHHH HULK SMASH
I don't understand the purpose of formula triangles. They are entirely misleading, IMO! Admittedly, it's the way we were taught in early physics class at Russian middle school, but it never came back to me... because I was lucky enough to see beyond the diagrams, I suppose.
I kinda enjoy the physics that were taught in college, though. I learned how to make unit conversions in giant formulas and they still hit home more than these pesky triangles.
@vintprox Oh, gods, yes! Outside of school, I learned how to use equivalent fractions to do unit conversion.
3km/1 * 5mi/8km .... etc Cancel the units. SO HELPFUL! I never have to "reason" my way through whether I need to multiply or divide or any stupid faff. (for checking my answer makes sense, sure, but not for the calculation)
RealityMinus3 & Zeke Rat
Vint Prox