Re: [Phys-L] a/(b/c)

[Richard Tarara <rtarara@saintmarys.edu>]

If I only saw what the students write, I wouldn't have understood what 
it meant.  My programming background gives me a prejudice for 
nomenclature that a computer would understand like the a/(b/c).  
However, I have avoided volunteering as a tutor because I am very 
unfamiliar with the way students do basic math these days.   :-(

rwt

On 2/5/2019 8:40 AM, Jeffrey Schnick wrote:
> Okay here's another notation question.  For a/(b/c), (where a, b, and c are scalars) I've been seeing:
>
>   a
> ------
>   b
>    --
>   c
>
> In other words, students use the length of the horizontal rule to indicate the order of operations.  I haven't been letting that one slide.  Any thoughts on that one?
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Richard Tarara
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Saint Mary's College

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