So, when I was in high school, aw, I had to
memorize the quadratic formula. You know,
x equals negative b plus or minus the square
root of b squared minus four a c, all over
two a. I didn't have any special way to remember
it, so when I started my homework, after I
wrote down the first problem, I copied down
the formula from my notes. x equals negative
b plus or minus the square root of b squared
minus four a c, all over two a. And then,
I finished my work, and then after I wrote down
the second problem, I copied x equals negative
b plus or minus the square root of b squared
minus four a c all over two a from where I
had written it on the first problem. I kept
doing this. x equals negative b plus or minus
the square root of b squared minus four a
c all over two a for each problem. Eventually,
I didn't need to look back at x equals negative
b plus or minus the square root of b squared
minus four a c all over two a to be able to
write it down. It turns out I had memorized
it by rote, by repeating x equals negative
b plus or minus the square root of b squared
minus four a c all over two a so many times
it had worked its way into my subconscious.
While this isn't the best way to understand
something, at least I could remember it. Later
in college, hmmm, I was in a mathematics teaching
methods class. When we got to quadratic equations,
our teacher asked us if we knew the song to
remember the quadratic formula. Almost everybody
nodded their heads and gave each other knowing
looks...I had no idea what they were talking
about. Didn't they just remember x equals
negative b plus or minus the square root of
b squared minus four a c all over two a like
I did? It was at this point that our teacher
sang, to the tune of Pop goes the Weasel,
x equals negative b plus or minus square root
b squared minus four a c all over two a. Okay,
that's a pretty good way to remember it, but
do you want to know the problem I have with
it? From that point forward whenever I wrote
x equals negative b plus or minus the square
root of b squared minus four a c all over
two a, I heard x equals negative b plus or
minus square root b squared minus four a c
all over two a. It wasn't fair. I had put a lot
of time into memorizing the quadratic formula
without a song or trick and now I had to hear
the song x equals negative b plus or minus
square root b squared minus four a c all over
two a whenever I wrote it. And, being a math
teacher, I wrote it a lot. Now, many years
later, I finally removed the song from the
formula. I can write x equals negative b plus
or minus the square root of b squared minus
four a c all over two a without hearing the
song. I'm hopeful that if you need to memorize
this formula, you can too. Thanks for listening!
