Page 1 of Joe Pagano's writing

1. Teach Your Kids Arithmetic - Multiplication Shortcuts - Part I When Gauss said that mathematics was the queen of sciences and arithmetic the queen of mathematics, he was not lying. Without arithmetic, there could be no mathematics; for the essence of this most challenging discipline lies in the ability to... (posted by Joe 1 year 19 days ago.)

2. Teach Your Kids Arithmetic - Multiplication Shortcuts Part II Did you ever watch an illusionist pull off one of those amazing mind-blowers in which a rabbit appears out of a seeming empty hat? Or one in which, a previously torn piece of paper with unique writing on it is miraculously restored whole? These... (posted by Joe 1 year 19 days ago.)

3. The Earned Run Average (ERA) In Baseball - Nothing More Than a Complex Fraction Now that baseball season is well under way, many of you might be wondering how that statistic called the earned run average (era) is computed. You might know that this stat reflects a pitcher's allowed, or earned, runs per nine innings. But did... (posted by Joe 1 year 19 days ago.)

4. How to Succeed in Algebra - Factoring Non-Monic Trinomials - Part I One of the stumbling blocks for students in algebra is factoring what is known as non-monic trinomials . Simply stated a non-monic trinomial is one of the form ax^2 + bx + c, in which a is greater than 1. These present a challenge in factoring... (posted by Joe 1 year 22 days ago.)

5. How to Succeed in Algebra - Factoring Non-Monic Trinomials - Part II In Part II of this article, we are going to examine a sure-fire way to factor non-monic trinomials. We are going to examine the proof which gives us this powerful method. After you are done with this presentation, you will not only be able to... (posted by Joe 1 year 22 days ago.)

6. Math and Cooking - Know Thy Fractions So you think math does not come in handy in day-to-day living? What about in cooking that delicious Mrs. Dash Oriental Baked Chicken dish? You know that one that requires 1 Tbsp. Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy Seasoning Blend, 6 (4 oz.) boneless... (posted by Joe 1 year 22 days ago.)

7. Math and Twitter - What's the Tweet? Social networking platforms are popping up faster than you can say "twitter." So now besides checking your text messages on your mobile phone, your three or so email accounts, you must check your facebook page, your myspace page, and of course... (posted by Joe 1 year 22 days ago.)

8. Why Study Math? - A Lesson in Predation - Does the Cheetah Catch the Gazelle? Imagine that you are a hungry cheetah grazing out on the savannah in Africa. The sun is blazing overhead at a cool 110 degrees Fahrenheit and because of the recent heat you have been unable to locate any prey to eat because they have all been... (posted by Joe 1 year 22 days ago.)

9. In Mathematics There Is No Hypocrisy Mathematics is rife with beauty. Yes beauty. Oh, maybe not the type of physical beauty you are thinking of but a beauty that can only be perceived when you study this subject in all of its fabulous environs. One particular beauty that hooks me... (posted by Joe 1 year 24 days ago.)

10. Why Study Math? - Solving Multi-Step Linear Inequalities - Part I Unlike an equation, which shows balance or harmony among two expressions, an inequality shows imbalance. That is, an inequality states that one expression is bigger than or less than another expression. Linear inequalities involve expressions... (posted by Joe 1 year 24 days ago.)

11. Why Study Math? - Solving Multi-Step Linear Inequalities - Part II As we discussed in Part I, multi-step linear inequalities are quite easy to solve. Essentially, the steps involved are much like those used to solve an equation. There is one situation, however, in which the technique to solve an equation and... (posted by Joe 1 year 24 days ago.)

12. School's Back - Are Your Kids Ready? September lurks around the corner while the kids are trying to squeeze every last drop out of summer fun. With September comes back to school and for most kids that means getting up early to attend class, doing homework assignments and projects... (posted by Joe 1 year 24 days ago.)

13. Mathematics, Numbers, and The Symmetry of God The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple. ~ S. Gudder Indeed mathematics is a domain where brains get rankled and minds seem to lose their grips on reality. Yet in this... (posted by Joe 1 year 24 days ago.)

14. Mastering Algebra - Recognizing Special Products and Their Factors - Part I One of the key difficulties in algebra is learning to recognize special products and their respective factors. For example, the special polynomials which are formed by the difference of two perfect squares and perfect square trinomials have... (posted by Joe 1 year 25 days ago.)

15. Mastering Algebra - Recognizing Special Products and Their Factors - Part II Now that we understand some key algebraic terminology, we are prepared to recognize some special products and to be able to factor them accordingly. Herein we master how to recognize and factor both differences of perfect squares and perfect... (posted by Joe 1 year 25 days ago.)

16. Trigonometry For Dopes - The Sine and Cosine Trigonometry is hailed as a rough subject, particularly for precocious high school students brave enough to wade into its potentially turbulent waters. Notwithstanding "trig" challenges, the key to mastering this subject really lies in the... (posted by Joe 1 year 25 days ago.)

17. Why Study Algebra? Completing the Square It's Not As Hard As You Think One of the most useful techniques in algebra is that of completing the square . The name is appropriate as the geometric interpretation encompasses the formation of a square from a rectangle by the addition of an appropriate quantity. Geometry... (posted by Joe 1 year 25 days ago.)

18. How I Became a Mathematician - It's Not As Serious As You Think I don't know. I guess it all happened back in high school when a friend of mine called out in algebra class how much he hated logarithms. After that remark, I figured I was in for trouble as I was your average Sylvester Stallone look-alike, and... (posted by Joe 1 year 25 days ago.)

19. Why Study Algebra? - Special Products - The Sum and Difference of Two Cubes There are two special products in algebra that are worthy of mentioning: the sum and difference of two cubes. Although the quadratics are much more common, the cubes and indeed higher order polynomials find their place in all sorts of... (posted by Joe 1 year 25 days ago.)

20. SAT Math Strategies - Part I The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is a major hurdle for those high school juniors looking to get into a competitive school. The new SAT has changed considerably from the one that was administered just a few years ago. The main differences... (posted by Joe 1 year 25 days ago.)

21. SAT Math Strategies - Part II In the first part of this article we discussed the three core elements of a basic SAT score boosting strategy, specifically time pacing, omission, and answering . A solid knowledge of these three methods will afford the prospective... (posted by Joe 1 year 25 days ago.)

22. Centigrade to Fahrenheit - A Quick Conversion Method Having just returned from Columbia, South America, I realized the usefulness of a quick conversion method from Celsius to Fahrenheit that I learned quite some time ago. For us Americans who only think in terms of our temperature scale, this... (posted by Joe 1 year 27 days ago.)

23. Why Advanced Mathematics Is Hard If you are wondering why you have trouble understanding the likes of advanced mathematics, you might consider that the writing and teaching quality in this field is abysmal at best. As someone who has studied mathematics at the graduate level... (posted by Joe 1 year 27 days ago.)

24. In Math, Fractions Are Strange But Decimals Are Even Stranger - Part II We were told in Part 1 of this series of articles that decimals were indeed a wacky bunch in the numbers arena. Unabashedly we were told that the non-terminating repeater 0.999... was exactly equal to 1, even though it seems that this long... (posted by Joe 1 year 27 days ago.)

25. In Math Fractions Are Strange But Decimals Are Even Stranger - Part I Most people agree that fractions are a bugbear in mathematics. Wherever they rear their ugly heads, they wreak havoc on both novice and expert alike. During my years teaching mathematics, I have seen many a mistake directly attributable to... (posted by Joe 1 year 27 days ago.)