BCME D20 Solve a Quadratic Equation Visually?
- Author:
- Martin Flashman
D20 - How Many Ways Can You Solve a Quadratic Equation Visually? From the Greeks to 21st Century Technology
Links: http://users.humboldt.edu/flashman/Presentations/BCME/BCME.LINKS.html
Understanding a quadratic equation and finding its solutions (roots) is a challenging part of the curriculum where students encounter a rich domain of mathematics - including geometry, numbers (real and complex), and functions.
Visualizing the solution of these equations is a valuable tool for meeting this challenge at any level.
Starting with the Greek, Hindu, and Islamic representation of the problem connected to finding areas and squares, participants will take a hands on tour through various visualizations including connections to graphs and mapping diagrams and concluding with recent work on visualizing complex functions with 3D mapping diagrams using Geogebra.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Some Ancient History
Cartesian Geometry; Graphs and Function Approaches
Mapping Diagrams for Quadratic Equations
- Mapping Diagram, Spreadsheet, Graph, Realign, Focus
- Mapping (Function) Diagrams to Visualize and Make Sense of Solving Linear and Quadratic Equations
- Table and Mapping Diagram for A Complex Linear Function
- Complex Variable Function Mapping Diagrams and Solving Real and Complex Quadratic Equations
- Mapping Diagrams for Complex Quadratic Functions & Equations