SANTA CRUZ – Instead of shooting paint-ball guns with friends or loafing at home, 15-year-old Nash McQuaide has spent a chunk of summer break hunkered down trying to solve algebraic equations.

Two of the terms involve \(x\) and two involve \(y\). Now we can combine the \(x\) terms and combine the \(y\) terms to get \(3x + 2y\).

Removing brackets is to multiply the term outside the brackets by each term inside - also known as the distributive law. Use FOIL to remove a pair of brackets then simplify by collecting like terms.

For ax 2 + bx + c = 0, (α, β) = [–b ± √(b 2 – 4ac)]/2ac, where α and β are the roots of the equation. Sum of roots = –b/a Product of roots = c/a If roots of a quadratic equation are given, then the ...

You scrambled up a Rubik's cube, and now you want to put it back in order. What sequence of moves should you make? Surprise: You can answer this question with modern algebra. Most folks who have been ...

A mathematician has built an algebraic solution to an equation that was once believed impossible to solve. The equations are fundamental to maths as well as science, where they have broad applications ...

Courtney Gibbons is affiliated with the Association for Women in Mathematics and the American Mathematical Society. You might remember learning about the quadratic formula to figure out the solutions ...