| When will you need Algebra? You never know! A close friend was just accepted to a grad program after studying for and acing the GRE. Teaching Math is conveying concepts and formulas with inspiration and motivation. SUCCESS for Teens, by the publisher of SUCCESS magazine, is designed to help teens develop a personal philosophy to set goals and stay on track in school, work and life. The Math topic is probability and the education spotlight is on college alternatives. |
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Recommended Reading
 This fabulous free book and workbook was created by the editors of the SUCCESS Foundation whose mission is to "Provide teens with the fundamental principles of personal development and the resources to help them reach their full potential." Based on Jeff Olson'sThe Slight Edge (Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success", the chapter titles are encourgaging and descriptive: Little Things Matter, Attitude is Everything, There's No Such Thing as Failure, Everything Starts with Small Steps, Use the Moment, You're Always Learning, You Can Make Your Dreams Come True and Habits are Powerful.
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Probability: Counting the Possibilities
If you have 3 books, there are 6 ways (3 x 2 x 1) to arrange them and with 4 books there are 24 ways (4 x 3 x 2 x 1) so with 10 books there are 10! (10 factorial: 10 x 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1) or 3,628,800 ways. This is the Fundamental Principle of Counting
If we were to choose 2 students to be president and vice presdent from a class of 10, there would be 90 possibilities using a permutation (first choose from 10 then after you pick that person there are 9 left). If, however, you would like teams of two without ranking (no Pres and VP), there would be half that number -- 45 combinations. We can use nPr and nCr on the Texas Instruments TI-84 for combinations and permutations. Impressively, a 52 card deck would have 52! arrangements or more than 10 to the 67th power.
Combination vs Permutation
Combinations and Permutations on MathsIsFun
Table of Factorials up to 30
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