Module 1: Introduction to Algebra

XSIQ
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Algebra - The language of algebra

The language of algebra

The X.Y. Algebra and Son fruit and vegetable shop buys four boxes of
bananas every day, and then sells them as individual bananas. The number of
bananas in each box will vary according to the size of the banana.

Mathematicians simply refer to the unknown (and variable) number of
bananas in each box as "b," and the fruit shop therefore sells "4 times b"
individual bananas each day.

All we need to know is approximately how many bananas (b) are in each box
and we can estimate the actual quantity (number) of individual bananas sold
each day.

It is easy to extend this concept to the unknown (or variable) number of
individual apples (a), mandarins (m) and pears (p) in boxes (one box of
each).

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