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Succeed with maths: part 1
Succeed with maths: part 1

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Week 8: Sharing maths with others

Introduction

Last week you learnt about adding and subtracting negative numbers. But what about the other two operations – multiplying and dividing?

It is possible to imagine what might happen when multiplying a negative number by a positive number by thinking about owing money. For example, if you currently owe £100 but your debt triples, that means you owe £300. So that suggests –100 × 3 = –300.

But what does –4 × –2 mean? Or –15 ÷ –5? You’ll find out more this week.

You’ll then finish off this course by thinking about how to communicate maths. Maths isn’t just about getting the right answer – you also often need someone else to be able to understand how you came to that answer, so they know it’s correct. So you’ll be looking at how to write maths clearly and correctly.

In the following video Maria introduces Week 8, the final week of the course, and the final badge quiz.

Download this video clip.Video player: swim1_week_8_demo1.mp4
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After this study week, you should be able to:

  • understand more about negative numbers
  • work out everyday problems that involve negative numbers using multiplication and division
  • understand exponents or powers of negative numbers
  • understand the importance of clear mathematical communication and how to achieve this.