Re: I'm confused about signs.

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 07:59:43 -0700, "achsofromm@xxxxxxxxx"
<dkw12002@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[snip]
Not to flog a dead horse, BUT... conceptually, using the quadratic
formula, instructions are to carry the (procedure) sign with a,b, and
c when you plug it into the quadratic formula, but this is not what
you are doing as I suspected...afterall, you can't just go changing
the value signs from + to -...and you don't. What you do is change the
PROCEDURE signs in my example so that the original equation
a^2 + b^2 + c becomes (+2)x^2-(+2x)-(+20). Now this has to be the
rationale. Amazingly, I received several emails telling me how stupid
I am for not seeing that (-)(+) = -, but that wasn't the issue at all.
The issue was the wording of how you plug the values into the
quadratic equation, when obviously -b for example is not a value sign
but a procedure sign. Now I am right I hope. It was your explanation
of the original quadratic equation from which the quadratic formula is
derived that completed this thought process....and I hope I am right
now. Thanks again. dkw

Are you getting the terms "procedure sign" and "value sign" from a
book or other study material? If so, what *exactly* are the
definitions of those two terms?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The procedure sign is the sign telling you to add, subtract, multiply
or divide, while the value sign tells you whether a number is positive
or negative...two completely different things. That's my whole point.
The number's value sign does not change, so when people say to
substitute a -20 for c in the quadratic formula, this is not what you
are doing because the 20 has a positive value sign from start to
finish. What you are replacing is instead the procedure sign in the
original equation from which the quadratic formula is derived, ie:
x^2+x+c. dkw

Yes, I understand the distinction, but you didn't answer my question.

I asked you if you are you getting the terms "procedure sign" and
"value sign" from a book or other study material. You also wrote
earlier that "... conceptually, using the quadratic formula,
instructions are to carry the (procedure) sign with a,b, and c when
you plug it into the quadratic formula ...".

Whose "instructions" are you referring to, and why do you write the
word "(procedure)" with parenthesis around it? Where do the words
"... carry the (procedure) sign ..." come from? Is the source of
these words a book, or are these YOUR words and ideas?

I'll be happy to address your questions, but first I'd like to know
where *exactly* the words/ideas are coming from.

.

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