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Ihaveseveralwebpagesintendedforstudentsthisseemstobethemostpopularone.FONTSFINALLYREPAIREDNovember2009.
Browseradjustments:Thiswebpageuses subscripts, superscripts,andunicodesymbols.Thelattermaydisplayincorrectlyonyourcomputerifyouareusinganold
browserand/oranoldoperatingsystem.
Notetoteachers(andanyoneelsewhoisinterested):Feelfreetolinktothispage(around500peoplehavedoneso),tellyourstudentsaboutthispage,orcopy
(withappropriatecitation)partsorallofthispage.Youcandothosethingswithoutwritingtome.Butifyouhaveanythingelsetosayaboutthispage,pleasewriteto
mewithyourquestions,comments,orsuggestions.IwillreplywhenIhavetime,thoughthatmightnotbeimmediatelyrecentlyI'vebeenswampedwithother
work.EricSchechter,versionof11Nov2009.

THEMOSTCOMMONERRORSIN
UNDERGRADUATEMATHEMATICS
ThiswebpagedescribestheerrorsthatIhaveseenmostfrequentlyinundergraduatemathematics,the
likelycausesofthoseerrors,andtheirremedies.Iamtiredofseeingthesesameolderrorsoverandover
again.(Iwouldratherseenew,originalerrors!)Icautionmyundergraduatestudentsabouttheseerrorsat
thebeginningofeachsemester.Outlineofthiswebpage:
ERRORSINCOMMUNICATION,includingteacherhostilityorarrogance,studentshyness,
unclearwording,badhandwriting,notreadingdirections,lossofinvisibleparentheses,termslost
insideanellipsis
ALGEBRAERRORS,includingsignerrors,everythingisadditive,everythingiscommutative,
undistributedcancellations,dimensionalerrors
CONFUSIONABOUTNOTATION,includingidiosyncraticinverses,squareroots,orderof
operations,ambiguouslywrittenfractions,streamofconsciousnessnotations.
ERRORSINREASONING,includinggoingoveryourwork,overlookingirreversibility,not
checkingforextraneousroots,confusingastatementwithitsconverse,workingbackward,
difficultieswithquantifiers,erroneousmethodsthatwork,unquestioningfaithincalculators.
UNWARRANTEDGENERALIZATIONS,includingEuler'ssquarerooterror,xx.
OTHERCOMMONCALCULUSERRORS,includingjumpingtoconclusionsaboutinfinity,
lossormisuseofconstantsofintegration,lossofdifferentials.
(Thereissomeoverlapamongthesetopics,soIrecommendreadingthewholepage.)...Ofrelated
interest:PaulCox'swebpage,andthebooksofBradis,Minkovskii,andKharchevaandE.A.Maxwell.
Ultimately,whatarethesourcesoferrorsandofmisunderstanding?Whatkindsofbiasesanderroneous
preconceptionsdowehave?TwoofmyfavoritehistoricdiscoveriesareEinstein'sdiscoveryofrelativity
andCantor'sdiscoveriesofsomeofthemostbasicrulesofinfinities.Thesediscoveriesareremarkablein
thatneitherinvolvedlong,involved,complicatedcomputations.Botharefairlysimple,inretrospect,to
anyonewhohasstudiedthem.Butbothinvolved"thinkingoutsidethebox"parexcellencei.e.,seeing
pasttheassumptionsthatwereinherentinourcultureandourlanguage.AsphilosopherJohnCulkin
said,"Wedon'tknowwhodiscoveredwater,butwearecertainitwasn'tafish."Thatcertain
mathematicalerrorsarecommonamongstudentsmaybepartlyaconsequenceofbiasesthatarebuilt
intoourlanguageandculture,someofwhichwearen'tevenawareof.

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Someteachersarehostiletoquestions.Thatisanerrormadebyteachers.Teachers,youwillbemore
comfortableinyourjobifyoutrytodoitwell,anddon'tthinkofyourstudentsastheenemy.Thismeans
listeningtoyourstudentsandencouragingtheirquestions.Ateacherwhoonlylectures,anddoesnot
encouragequestions,mightaswellbereplacedbyabookoramovie.Toteacheffectively,youhaveto
knowwhenyourstudentshaveunderstoodsomethingandwhentheyhaven'tthemostefficientwayto
discoverthatistolistentothemandtowatchtheirfaces.Perhapsyouidentifywithyourbrightest
students,becausetheyaremostabletoappreciatethebeautyoftheideasyouareteachingbuttheother
studentshavegreaterneedofyourhelp,andtheyhavearighttoit.
Avariantofteacherhostilityisteacherarrogance.Initsmildestform,thismaysimplymeanateacher
who,despitebeingpoliteandpleasant,isunabletoconceiveoftheideathathe/shecouldhavemadean
error,evenwhenthaterrorisbroughtdirectlytohis/herattention.Actually,mostoftheerrorslisted
belowcanbemadebyteachers,notjustbystudents.(However,mostteachersarerightfarmoreoften
thantheirstudents,sostudentsshouldexercisegreatcautionwhenconsideringwhethertheirteachers
couldbeinerror.)
Ifyou'reastudentwithahostileteacher,thenI'mafraidIdon'tknowwhatadvicetogiveyoutransferto
adifferentsectionordropthecoursealtogetherifthatisfeasible.Theremarksoncommunicationinthe
nextfewparagraphsareforstudentswhoseteachersarereceptivetoquestions.Forsuchstudents,a
commonerroristhatofnotaskingquestions.
Whenyourteachersayssomethingthatyoudon'tunderstand,don'tbeshyaboutaskingthat'swhyyou're
inclass!Ifyou'vebeenlisteningbutnotunderstanding,thenyourquestionisnota"stupidquestion."
Moreover,youprobablyaren'taloneinyourlackofunderstandingthereareprobablyadozenother
studentsinyourclassroomwhoareconfusedaboutpreciselythesamepoint,andareevenmoreshyand
inarticulatethanyou.Thinkofyourselfastheirspokespersonyou'llbedoingthemallafavorifyouask
yourquestion.You'llalsobedoingyourteacherafavoryourteacherdoesn'talwaysknowwhich
pointshavebeenexplainedclearlyenoughandwhichpointshavenotyourquestionsprovidethe
feedbackthatyourteacherneeds.
Ifyouthinkyourteachermayhavemadeamistakeonthechalkboard,you'dbedoingthewholeclassa
favorbyaskingaboutit.(Tosaveface,justincasetheerrorisyourown,formulateitasaquestionrather
thanastatement.Forinstance,insteadofsaying"that5shouldbea7",youcanask"shouldthat5bea
7?")
Andtrytoaskyourquestionassoonaspossibleafteritcomesup.Don'twaituntiltheveryendofthe
example,oruntiltheendofclass.Asateacher,Ihateitwhenclasshasendedandstudentsareleaving
theroomandsomestudentcomesuptomeandsays"shouldn'tthat5havebeena7?"ThenIsay"Yes,
you'reright,butIwishyouhadaskedaboutitoutsooner.Nowallyourclassmateshaveanerrorinthe
notesthattheytookinclass,andtheymayhavetroubledecipheringtheirnoteslater."
MarcMimssentmethisanecdoteaboutunaskedquestions:
Intheearly1980s,Imanagedacomputerretailstore.Severalofmyemployeeswerecollegestudents.Onebrightyourmanwashavingdifficulty
withhisFreshmancollegealgebraclass.Itutoredhimandhedidverywell,butinvariably,hewouldsay,"theprofessorworkedthroughthis
problemontheboard,anditwasnothinglikethis.Isurehopewegotthecorrectanswer."
Iaccompaniedhimtoclassonemorninganddiscoveredthesourceofhisfrustration.Theprofessorwasfromthemusicdepartment,anddidn't
normallyteachcollegealgebrahehadbeenpressedintodutywhenoverenrollmentforcedtheclasstobesplit.
Duringtheclass,hepickedaproblemfromtheassignmenttoworkoutontheboard.Veryearlyintheproblem,hemadeanerror.Idon'trecallthe
specifics,butI'msureitwasoneofthemanytypicalalgebraerrorsyoulist.

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Becauseoftheerror,heeventuallyreachedapointfromwhichhecouldnolongerproceed.Ratherthanadmittinganerrorandgoingtoworktofind
it,hepausedstaringattheboardforseveralseconds,thenturnedtotheclassandsaid,"...andtherest,youngpeople,shouldbeobvious."

Unclearwording.TheEnglishlanguagewasnotdesignedformathematicalclarity.Indeed,mostofthe
Englishlanguagewasnotreallydesignedatallitsimplygrew.Itisnotalwaysperfectlyclear.
MathematiciansmustbuildtheircommunicationontopofEnglish[orreplaceEnglishwithwhateveris
yournativeorlocallanguage],andsotheymustworktoovercometheweaknessesofEnglish.
Communicatingclearlyisanartthattakesgreatpractice,andthatcanneverbeentirelyperfected.
Lackofclarityoftencomesintheformofambiguityi.e.,whenacommunicationhasmorethanone
possibleinterpretation.Miscommunicationcanoccurinseveralwaysherearetwoofthem:
Oneofthethingsthatyou'vesaidhastwoormorepossiblemeanings,andyou'reawareofthat
fact,butyou'resatisfiedthatit'sclearwhichmeaningyouintendedeitherbecauseit'sclearfrom
thecontext,orbecauseyou'veaddedsomefurther,clarifyingwords.Butyouraudienceisn'tas
knowledgeableasyouaboutthissubject,andsothedistinctionwasnotcleartothemfromthe
contextorfromyourfurtherclarifyingwords.Or,
Oneofthethingsthatyou'vesaidhastwoormorepossiblemeanings,andyou'renotawareofthat
fact,becauseyouweren'twatchingyourownchoiceofwordscarefullyenoughand/orbecause
you'renotknowledgeableenoughaboutsomeoftheothermeaningsthatthosewordshavetosome
people.
Onewaythatambiguitycanoccuriswhentherearemultipleconventions.Aconventionisanagreed
uponwayofdoingthings.Insomecases,onegroupofmathematicianshasagreedupononewayof
doingthings,andanothergroupofmathematicianshasagreeduponanotherway,andthetwogroupsare
unawareofeachother.Thestudentwhogetsateacherfromonegroupandlatergetsanotherteacher
fromtheothergroupissuretoendupconfused.Anexampleofthisisgivenunder"ambiguouslywritten
fractions,"discussedlateronthispage.
Choosingprecisewordingisafineart,whichcanbeimprovedwithpracticebutneverperfected.Each
topicwithinmath(orwithinanyfield)hasitsowntrickyphrasesfamiliaritywiththattopicleadsto
eventuallymasteringthosephrases.
Forinstance,onestudentsentmethisexamplefromcombinatorics,atopicthatrequiressomewhatawkwardEnglish:
Howmanydifferentwordsoffiveletterscanbeformedfromsevendifferentconsonantsandfourdifferent
vowelsifnotwoconsonantsandvowelscancometogetherandnorepetitionsareallowed?Howmanycanbe
formedifeachlettercouldberepeatedanynumberoftimes?
Thereareanumberofplaceswherethisproblemisunclear.Inthefirstsentence,I'mnotsurewhat"cancometogether"means,
butIwouldguessthattheintendedmeaningis
Howmanydifferentwordsoffiveletterscanbeformedfromsevendifferentconsonantsandfourdifferent
vowelsifnotwoconsonantscanoccurconsecutivelyandnotwovowelscanoccurconsecutivelyandno
repetitionsareallowed?
Thesecondsentenceisabitworse.Thestudentmisinterpretedthatsentencetomean
Howmanydifferentwordsoffiveletterscanbeformedfromsevendifferentconsonantsandfourdifferent
vowelsifeachlettercouldberepeatedanynumberoftimes?
Butusually,whenamathbookaskstwoconsecutivequestionsrelatedinthisfashion,thesecondquestionisintendedasa
modificationofthefirstquestion.Wearetoretainallpartsofthefirstquestionthatarecompatiblewiththenewconditions,
andtodiscardallpartsofthefirstquestionthatwouldbecontradictedbythenewconditions.Thus,thesecondsentencein
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ourexampleshouldbeinterpretedinthisratherdifferentfashion,whichyieldsadifferentanswer:
Howmanydifferentwordsoffiveletterscanbeformedfromsevendifferentconsonantsandfourdifferent
vowelsifnotwoconsonantscanbeconsecutive,notwovowelscanbeconsecutive,andeachlettercouldbe
repeatedanynumberoftimes?

Badhandwritingisanerrorthatthestudentmakesincommunicatingwithhimselforherself.Ifyou
writebadly,yourteacherwillhavedifficultyreadingyourwork,andyoumayevenhavedifficulty
readingyourownworkaftersometimehaspassed!
UsuallyIdonotdeductpointsforasloppyhandwritingstyle,providedthatthestudentendsupwiththe
rightanswerattheendbutsomestudentswritesobadlythattheyendupwiththewronganswer
becausetheyhavemisreadtheirownwork.Forinstance,
(5x4+2)dx x5+7x+C(shouldbex5+2x+C)
Thisstudent'shandwritingwassobadthathemisreadhisownwritinghetookthe"2"fora"7".You'll
havetouseyourimaginationhere,sincethiselectronictypesettingcannotduplicatesloppyhandwriting.
Youdonotneedtomakeyourhandwritingasneatasthistypesetdocument,butyouneedtobeneat
enoughsothatyouoranyoneelsecandistinguisheasilybetweencharactersthatareintendedtobe
different.Moststudentswouldfarebetteriftheywouldprinttheirmathematics,insteadofusingcursive
writing.
Bytheway,writeyourplussign(+)andlowercaseletterTee(t)sothattheydon'tlookidentical!One
easywaytodothisistoputalittle"tail"atthebottomofthet,justasitappearsinthistypesetdocument.
(Iassumethatthefontsyou'reusingonyourbrowseraren'tmuchdifferentfrommyfonts.)
Notreadingdirections.Studentsoftendonotreadtheinstructionsonatestcarefully,andsoinsome
casestheygivetherightanswertothewrongproblem.
Lossofinvisibleparentheses.Thisisnotanerroneousbeliefrather,itisasloppytechniqueofwriting.
Duringoneofyourcomputations,ifyouthinkapairofparenthesesbutneglecttowritethem(forlackof
time,orfromsheerlaziness),andtheninthenextstepofyourcomputationyouforgetthatyouomitteda
parenthesisfromthepreviousstep,youmaybaseyoursubsequentcomputationsontheincorrectly
writtenexpression.Hereisatypicalcomputationofthissort:
3(5x4+7)dx

3x5+7x+C

Butthatshouldbe
3(5x4+7)dx=3(x5+7x)+C=3x5+21x+C
That'sanentirelydifferentanswer,andit'sthecorrectanswer.Toseewheretheerrorcreepsin,justtry
erasingthelastpairofparenthesesinthelineabove.
Apartiallossofparenthesesresultsinunbalancedparentheses.Forexample,theexpression
"3(5x4+2x+7"ismeaningless,becausetherearemoreleftparenthesesthanrightparentheses.Moreover,
itisambiguousifwetrytoaddarightparenthesis,wecouldgeteither"3(5x4+2x)+7"or
"3(5x4+2x+7)"thosearetwodifferentanswers.
Lossofparenthesesisparticularlycommonwithminussignsand/orwithintegralsforinstance,
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(5x47)dx

x57x+C(shouldbex5+7x+C)

Termslostinsideanellipsis.Anellipsisisthreedots(...),usedtodenote"continuethepattern".This
notationcanbeusedtowritealonglist.Forinstance,"1,2,3,...,100"representsalltheintegersfrom1
to100that'smuchmoreconvenientthanactuallywritingall100numbers.Andforsomepurposes,an
ellipsisisnotjustaconvenience,it'sanecessity.Forinstance,"1,2,3,...,n"representsalltheintegers
from1ton,wherenissomeunspecifiedpositiveintegerthere'snowaytowritethatwithoutanellipsis.
Theellipsisnotationconcealssometermsinthesequence.Butcanonlybeusedifenoughtermsareleft
unconcealedtomakethepatternevident.Forinstance,"1,...,64"isambiguousitmighthaveanyof
theseinterpretations:
"1,2,3,4,...,64"(alltheintegersfrom1to64)
"1,4,9,16,25,36,49,64"(that'sn2asngoesfrom1to8)
"1,2,4,8,16,32,64"(that's2nasngoesfrom0to6)
Ofcourse,insomecasesoneofthesemeaningsmightbeclearfromthecontext.Andjusthowmuch
informationisneeded"tomakeapatternevident"isasubjectivematteritmayvaryfromoneaudience
toanother.Besttoerronthesafeside:giveatleastasmuchinformationaswouldbeneededbytheleast
imaginativememberofyouraudience.
IhaveseenmanyerrorsinusingellipseswhenI'vetriedtoteachinductionproofs.Forinstance,suppose
thatwe'dliketoprove
[*n]12+22+32+...+n2=n(n+1)(2n+1)/6
forallpositiveintegersn.Theprocedureisthis:Verifythattheequationistruewhenn=1(that'sthe
"initialstep)thenassumethat[*n]istrueforsomeunspecifiedvalueofnandusethatfacttoprovethat
it'strueforthenextvalueofni.e.,toprove[*(n+1)](that'sthe"transitionstep").Hereisatypicalerror
inthetransitionstep:Add2n+1tobothsidesof[*n].Thusweobtain
[i]12+22+32+...+n2+2n+1=(2n+1)+n(n+1)(2n+1)/6.
Butthatsays
[ii]12+22+32+...+(n+1)2=(2n+1)+n(n+1)(2n+1)/6.
We'vemadeamistakealready,intheleftsideoftheequation.(Canyoufindit?I'llexplainitina
moment.)Nowmakesomealgebraerrorwhilerearrangingtherightsideoftheequation,toobtain
[*(n+1)]12+22+32+...+(n+1)2=(n+1)(n+2)(2n+3)/6.
Andnowitappearsthatwe'redone.Buttherewasanalgebraerrorontherightside:
(2n+1)+n(n+1)(2n+1)/6actuallyisnotequalto(n+1)(n+2)(2n+3)/6.(Youcancheckthateasily.)
Theerrorontheleftsidewasmoresubtle.Itisbasedonthefactthattoomanytermswereconcealedin
theellipsis,andsothepatternwasnotrevealedaccurately.Toseewhatisreallygoingon,let'srewrite
equations[i]and[ii],puttingmoretermsin:
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[i]12+22+32+...+(n2)2+(n1)2+n2+2n+1=(2n+1)+n(n+1)(2n+1)/6.
[ii]12+22+32+...+(n2)2+(n1)2+(n+1)2=(2n+1)+n(n+1)(2n+1)/6.
Andnowyoucanseethattheleftsideismissingitsn2term,sotheleftsideof[ii]isnotequaltotheleft
sideof[*(n+1)].

AlgebraErrors
Signerrorsaresurelythemostcommonerrorsofall.Igenerallydeductonlyonepointfortheseerrors,
notbecausetheyareunimportant,butbecausedeductingmorewouldinvolveswimmingagainstatide
thatisjusttoostrongforme.Thegreatnumberofsignerrorssuggeststhatstudentsarecarelessand
unconcernedthatstudentsthinksignerrorsdonotmatter.Butsignerrorscertainlydomatter,agreat
deal.Yourtrainswillnotrun,yourrocketswillnotfly,yourbridgeswillfalldown,iftheyare
constructedwithcalculationsthathavesignerrors.
Signerrorsarejustthesymptomtherecanbeseveraldifferentunderlyingcauses.Onecauseisthe"loss
ofinvisibleparentheses,"discussedinalatersectionofthiswebpage.Anothercauseisthebeliefthata
minussignmeansanegativenumber.Ithinkthatmoststudentswhoharborthisbeliefdosoonlyonan
unconsciousleveltheywouldgiveitupifitwerebroughttotheirattention.[MythankstoJonJacobsen
foridentifyingthiserror.]
Isxanegativenumber?Thatdependsonwhatxis.
Yes,ifxisapositivenumber.
No,ifxitselfisanegativenumber.Forinstance,whenx=6,thenx=6(or,foremphasis,x=
+6).
That'ssomethinglikea"doublenegative".Wesometimesneeddoublenegativesinmath,buttheyare
unfamiliartostudentsbecausewegenerallytrytoavoidtheminEnglishtheyareconceptually
complicated.Forinstance,insteadofsaying"Idonothavealackoffunds"(twonegatives),itissimpler
tosay"Ihavesufficientfunds"(onepositive).
Anotherreasonthatsomestudentsgetconfusedonthispointisthatweread"x"aloudas"minusx"or
as"negativex".Thelatterreadingsuggeststosomestudentsthattheanswershouldbeanegative
number,butthat'snotright.[SuggestedbyChrisPhillips.]
Misunderstandingthispointalsocausessomestudentstohavedifficultyunderstandingthedefinitionof
theabsolutevaluefunction.Geometrically,wethinkof|x|asthedistancebetweenxand0.Thus|3|=3
and|27.3|=27.3,etc.Adistanceisalwaysapositivequantity(ormoreprecisely,anonnegativequantity,
sinceitcouldbezero).Informallyandimprecisely,wemightsaythattheabsolutevaluefunctionisthe
"makeitpositive"function.
Thosedefinitionsofabsolutevalueareallgeometricorverbaloralgorithmic.Itisusefultoalsohavea
formulathatdefines|x|,buttodothatwemustmakeuseofthedoublenegative,discussedafew
sentencesago.Thusweobtainthisformula:

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whichisabitcomplicatedandconfusesmanybeginners.Perhapsit'sbettertostartwiththedistance
concept.
Manycollegestudentsdon'tknowhowtoaddfractions.Theydon'tknowhowtoadd(x/y)+(u/v),and
someofthemdon'tevenknowhowtoadd(2/3)+(7/9).Itishardtoclassifythedifferentkindsof
mistakestheymake,butinmanycasestheirmistakesarerelatedtothisone:
Everythingisadditive.Inadvancedmathematics,afunctionoroperationfiscalledadditiveifit
satisfiesf(x+y)=f(x)+f(y)forallnumbersxandy.Thisistrueforcertainfamiliaroperationsfor
instance,
thelimitofasumisthesumofthelimits,
thederivativeofasumisthesumofthederivatives,
theintegralofasumisthesumoftheintegrals.
Butitisnottrueforcertainotherkindsofoperations.Nevertheless,studentsoftenapplythisaddition
ruleindiscriminately.Forinstance,contrarytothebeliefofmanystudents,

Wedogetequalityholdingforafewunusualandcoincidentalchoicesofxandy,butwehaveinequality
formostchoicesofxandy.(Forinstance,allfourofthoselinesareinequalitieswhenx=y=/2.The
studentwhoisnotsureaboutallthisshouldworkoutthatexampleindetailheorshewillseethatthat
exampleistypical.)
Oneexplanationfortheerrorwithsinesisthatsomestudents,seeingtheparentheses,feelthatthesine
operatorisamultiplicationoperatori.e.,justas6(x+y)=6x+6yiscorrect,theythinkthat
sin(x+y)=sin(x)+sin(y)iscorrect.
The"everythingisadditive"errorisactuallythemostcommonoccurrenceofamoregeneralclassof
errors:
Everythingiscommutative.Inhighermathematics,wesaythattwooperationscommuteifwecan
performthemineitherorderandgetthesameresult.We'vealreadylookedatsomeexampleswith
additionherearesomeexampleswithotheroperations.Contrarytosomestudents'beliefs,

etc.Anothercommonerroristoassumethatmultiplicationcommuteswithdifferentiationorintegration.
Butactually,ingeneral(uv)doesnotequal(u)(v)and(uv)doesnotequal(u)(v).
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However,tobecompletelyhonestaboutthis,Imustadmitthatthereisoneveryspecialcasewheresuch
amultiplicationformulaforintegralsiscorrect.Itisapplicableonlywhentheregionofintegrationisa
rectanglewithsidesparalleltothecoordinateaxes,and
u(x)isafunctionthatdependsonlyonx(notony),and
v(y)isafunctionthatdependsonlyony(notonx).
Underthoseconditions,

(IhopethatIamdoingmoregoodthanharmbymentioningthisformula,butI'mnotsurethatthatisso.
Iamafraidthatafewstudentswillwritedownanabbreviatedformofthisformulawithoutthe
accompanyingrestrictiveconditions,andwillendupbelievingthatItoldthemtoequate
(uv)and(u)(v)ingeneral.Pleasedon'tdothat.)
Undistributedcancellations.HereisanerrorthatIhaveseenfairlyoften,butIdon'thaveaveryclear
ideawhystudentsmakeit.
(3x+7)(2x9)+(x2+1)

(3x+7)(2x9)+(x2+1)

f(x)=

(2x9)+(x2+1)
=

(3x+7)(x3+6)

(3x+7)(x3+6)

(x3+6)

Inasense,thisisthereverseofthe"lossofinvisibleparentheses"mentionedearlieryoumightcallthis
error"insertionofinvisibleparentheses."Toseewhy,comparetheprecedingcomputation(whichis
wrong)withthefollowingcomputation(whichiscorrect).
(3x+7)[(2x9)+(x2+1)]
g(x)=

(3x+7)[(2x9)+(x2+1)]
=

(3x+7)(x3+6)

(2x9)+(x2+1)
=

(3x+7)(x3+6)

(x3+6)

Apparentlysomestudentsthinkthatf(x)andg(x)arethesamethingorperhapstheysimplydon't
bothertolookcarefullyenoughatthetoplineoff(x),todiscoverthatnoteverythinginthetoplineof
f(x)hasafactorof(3x+7).Ifyoustilldon'tseewhat'sgoingon,hereisacorrectcomputationinvolving
thatfirstfunctionf:
x2+1
2x9+
(3x+7)(2x9)+(x2+1)
f(x)=

3x+7
=

(3x+7)(x3+6)
x3+6
Whywouldstudentsmakeerrorslikethese?Perhapsitispartlybecausetheydon'tunderstandsomeof
thebasicconceptsoffractions.Herearesomethingsworthnoting:
Multiplicationiscommutativethatis,xy=yx.Consequently,mostrulesaboutmultiplicationare
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symmetric.Forinstance,multiplicationdistributesoveradditionbothontheleftandontheright:
(x1+x2)y=(x1y)+(x2y)andx(y1+y2)=(xy1)+(xy2).
Divisionisnotcommutativeingeneral,x/yisnotequaltoy/x.Consequently,rulesabout
divisionarenotsymmetric(thoughperhapssomestudentsexpectedthemtobesymmetric).For
instance,
(x1+x2)/y=(x1/y)+(x2/y)butingeneralx/(y1+y2)(x/y1)+(x/y2).
Fractionsrepresentdivisionandgrouping(i.e.,parentheses).Forinstance,thefraction
a+b
c+d
isthesamethingas(a+b)/(c+d).Ifyouomiteitherpairofparenthesesfromthatlastexpression,
yougetsomethingentirelydifferent.(ThankstoMarkMeckesforpointingoutthispossible
explanationoftheoriginofsucherrors.)Perhapssomeofthestudents'errorsstemfromsuchan
omissionofparentheses?oralackofunderstandingofhowimportantthoseparenthesesare?That
wouldseemtobeindicatedbytheprevalanceofanothertypeoferrordescribedelsewhereonthis
page,"lossofinvisibleparentheses".
Dimensionalerrors.Mostofthiswebpageisdevotedtothingsthatyoushouldnotdo,butdimensional
analysisissomethingthatyoushoulddo.Dimensionalanalysisdoesn'ttellyoutherightanswer,butit
doesenableyoutoinstantlyrecognizethewrongnessofsomekindsofwronganswers.Justkeepcareful
trackofyourdimensions,andthenseewhetheryouranswerlooksright.Herearesomeexamples:
Ifyou'reaskedtofindavolume,andyouranswerissomenumberofsquareinches,thenyouknow
you'vemadeanerrorsomewhereinyourcalculations.(Ifyoufindthiskindoferrorinyour
answer,don'tjustchange"squareinches"to"cubicinches"inyouranswerandleavethe
numericalpartunchanged.Thestepinyourcalculationwhereyougotthewrongunitsmayalsobe
astepwhereyoumadeanumericalerror.Trytofindthatstep,)
Ifyou'reaskedtofindanareaoravolume,andyouranswerisanegativenumber,thenyouknow
you'vemadeanerrorsomewhere.(Again,don'tjustchangethesigninyouranswertheremay
bemoretoyourerrorthanthat.)
Ifthequestionisawordproblem,thinkaboutwhetheryouranswermakessense.Forinstance,if
you'regiventhedimensionsofacoinandyou'reaskedtofinditssurfacearea,andyoucomeup
withananswerof3000squaremiles,youshouldrealizethatyou'veprobablymadeanerror(even
thoughyouranswerhastherightunits),andyoushouldlookforthaterror.(Thisisnotreallyan
exampleofdimensionalanalysis,butIdidn'tknowwhereelsetoputit.ThankstoSandeep
Kanabarforthisexample.)
Evenifyoudon'tremembertheformulaforthevolumeofasphereofradiusr,youknowthatit
hastohaveafactorofr3,notr2,sotheanswercouldn'tpossiblyber2.
Evenifyoudon'tremembertheformulaforthesurfaceareaofasphereofradiusr,youknowit
hastogetsmallwhenrgetssmall.Soitcouldn'tpossiblybesomethinglike2+3r2.
Hereisacuteexampleofdimensionalanalysis(submittedbyBenjaminTilly).
Problem:Wherehasmymoneygone?Mydollarseemstohaveturnedintoapenny:
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$1=100=(10)2=($0.10)2=$0.01=1
Explanation:Ofcourse,theproblemisadisregardfordimensionalunits.Strictlyspeaking,ifyousquare
adollar,youshouldgetasquaredollar.Idon'tknowwhata"squaredollar"is,butIstillknowhowto
computewithit,andIknowthata"squaredollar"mustbeequalto10,000"squarepennies",sinceone
dollaris100pennies.Dimensionalcomputationswillnotyielderrorsifwehandlethedimensionalunits
correctly.Hereisacorrectcomputation:
$21=($1)2=(100)2=10022=10,0002.
Itshouldnowbeevidentwhatwaswrongwiththefirstcalculation:100isnotequalto(10)2.It'strue
thatthe100isequaltothe102,buttheisnotequalto2.Likewise,laterinthecomputation,$2isnot
equalto$.

ConfusionaboutNotation
Idiosyncraticinverses.Weneedtobesympatheticaboutthestudent'sdifficultyinlearningthelanguage
ofmathematicians.ThatlanguageisabitmoreconsistentthanEnglish,butitisnotentirelyconsistent
ittoohasitsidiosyncrasies,which(likethoseofEnglish)arelargelyduetohistoricalaccidents,andnot
reallyanyone'sfault.Hereisonesuchidiosyncrasy:Theexpressionssinnandtanngetinterpretedin
differentways,dependingonwhatnis.
sin2x=(sinx)2andtan2x=(tanx)2
but
sin1x=arcsin(x)andtan1x=arctan(x).
Somestudentsgetconfusedaboutthissomeevenendupsettingarctan(x)equalto1/(tanx).WhenI
teach,Itrytoreduceconfusionbyalwayswritingarcsinorarctan,ratherthansin1ortan1.Butthe
sin1andtan1notationstillneedstobediscussed,asitisusedonnearlyallhandheldcalculators.
ThankstoIanMorrisonandJohnArmerdingforpointingthisoneout.
Confusionaboutthesquarerootsymbol.Everypositivenumberbhastwosquareroots.The
expressionbactuallymeans"thenonnegativesquarerootofb,"butunfortunatelysomestudentsthink
thatthatexpressionmeans"eitherofthesquarerootsofb"i.e.,theythinkitrepresentstwonumbers....
Thiserrorismademorecommonbecauseoftheunfortunatefactthatwemathteachersaremerely
human,andsometimesalittlesloppy:Whenwewritebontheblackboard,whatwesayaloudmight
justbe"thesquarerootofb."Butthat'sjustlaziness.Ifyouaskusspecificallyaboutthat,we'lltellyou
"Oh,I'msorry,ofcourseImeantthenonnegativesquarerootofbIthoughtthatgoeswithoutsaying."...
Ifyoureallydowanttoindicatebothsquarerootsofb,youusetheplusorminussign,asinthis
expression:b.
Problemswithorderofoperations.Itiscustomarytoperformcertainmathematicaloperationsin
certainorders,andsowedon'tneedquitesomanyparentheses.Forinstance,everyoneagreesthat
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"6w+5"means"(6w)+5",andnot"6(w+5)"themultiplicationisperformedbeforetheaddition,andso
theparenthesesarenotneededif"(6w)+5"iswhatyoureallymeantosay.Unfortunately,somestudents
havenotlearnedthecorrectorderofsomeoperations.
HereisanexamplefromIanMorrison:Whatis32?Manystudentsthinkthattheexpressionmeans
(3)2,andsotheyarriveatananswerof9.Butthatiswrong.Theconventionamongmathematiciansis
toperformtheexponentiationbeforetheminussign,andso32iscorrectlyinterpretedas(32),which
yields9.
Ambiguouslywrittenfractions.Incertaincommonsituationswithfractions,thereisalackof
consensusaboutwhatordertoperformoperationsin.Forinstance,does"3/5x"mean"(3/5)x"or
"3/(5x)"?
Forthisconfusion,teachersmustsharetheblame.Theycertainlymeanwellmostmathteachers
believethattheyarefollowingtheconventionalorderofoperations.Theyarenotawarethatseveral
conventionsarewidelyused,andnooneofthemisuniversallyaccepted.Studentsmaylearnonemethod
fromoneteacherandthengoontoanotherteacherwhoexpectsstudentstofollowadifferentmethod.
Bothteacherandstudentmaybeunawareofthesourceoftheproblem.
Herearesomeofthemostwidelyusedinterpretations:
The"BODMASinterpretation"(bracketedoperations,division,multiplication,addition,
subtraction):Performdivisionbeforemultiplication.Forinstance,thefunctionf(x)=3/5xgets
interpretedas(3/5)x=

.Inparticular,f(5)=3andf(1/5)=3/25.

The"MyDearAuntSally"interpretation(multiplication,division,addition,subtraction):Perform
multiplicationbeforedivision.Forinstance,thefunctionf(x)=3/5xgetsinterpretedas3/(5x)=
.Inparticular,f(5)=3/25andf(1/5)=3.Likewise,"ax/by"wouldbeinterpretedas
"(ax)/(by)".
TheinterpretationusedbyFORTRANandsomeothercomputerlanguages(aswellassome
humans):Multiplicationanddivisionaregivenequalpriorityastringofsuchoperationsis
processedfromlefttoright.Forinstance,"ax/by"wouldbeinterpretedas"((ax)/b))y",ormore
simply"(axy)/b".
Somestudentsthinkthattheirelectroniccalculatorscanberelieduponforcorrectanswers.Butsome
calculatorsfollowoneconvention,andothercalculatorsfollowanotherconvention.Infact,someofthe
TexasInstrumentscalculatorsfollowtwoconventions,accordingtowhethermultiplicationisindicated
byjuxtapositionorasymbol:
3/5xisinterpretedas3/(5x),but
3/5*xisinterpretedas(3/5)x.
(ThankstoChrisPhillipsandThomasCowderyforsomeoftheseexamplesandcomments.)
Becausethereisnoconsensusofinterpretation,Irecommendthatyoudonotwriteexpressionslike
"3/5x"i.e.,donotwriteafractioninvolvingadiagonalslashfollowedbyaproduct,withoutany
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parentheses.Instead,useoneofthesefournonambiguousexpressions:(3/5)x,

,3/(5x),

Insomecases,additionalinformationisevidentfromthecontextifoneisfamiliarwiththecontext.
Forinstance,anexperiencedmathematicianwillrecognizedy/dxasaderivativeitisthequotientoftwo
differentials.Theletterdrepresentsthedifferentialoperator,notavariable.Theexpressiondxrepresents
thedifferentialofx,nottheproductoftwovariables.Thus,parenthesesarenotneeded,andwouldlook
ratherstrangeifused.Wedonotwritedy/(dx)or(dy)/(dx).
Hereisanothercommonerrorinthewritingoffractions:Ifyouwritethehorizontalfractionbartoohigh,
itcanbemisread.Forinstance,

or

areacceptableexpressions(withdifferentmeanings),but

isunacceptableithasnoconventionalmeaning,andcouldbeinterpretedambiguouslyaseither
ofthepreviousfractions.Iwillnotgivefullcreditforambiguousanswersonanyquizortest.Inthistype
oferror,sloppyhandwritingistheculprit.Whenyouwriteanexpressionsuchas

,besuretowrite

carefully,sothatthehorizontalbarisaimedatthemiddleofthex.
Here'sonemoreexampleofinterest.Whenenteredas2^3^4withoutparentheses,theTI85calculator
shows4096andtheTI89shows2.41785163923E24.(Thosearetheanswersto(2^3)^4and
2^(3^4),respectively.)Thus,eventhecalculatorsmadebyonecompanydon'tallagreeontheirorders
ofoperations.Whenindoubt,useparentheses!ThankstoBillDodgeforthisexample.
Streamofconsciousnessequalitiesandimplications.(MythankstoH.G.Mushenheimforidentifying
thistypeoferrorandsuggestinganameforit.)Thisisanerrorintheintermediatestepsinstudents'
computations.Itdoesn'toftenleadtoanerroneousfinalresultattheendofthatcomputation,butitis
tremendouslyirritatingtothemathematicianwhomustgradethestudent'spaper.Itmayalsoleadtoa
lossofpartialcredit,ifthestudentmakessomeothererrorinhisorhercomputationandthegraderis
thenunabletodecipherthestudent'sworkbecauseofthisstreamofconsciousnesserror.
Toputitsimply:Somestudents(especiallycollegefreshmen)usetheequalssign(=)asasymbolforthe
word"then"orthephrase"thenextstepis."Forinstance,whenaskedtofindthethirdderivativeof
x4+7x25,somestudentswillwrite"x4+7x25=4x3+14x=12x2+14=24x."Ofcourse,thosefour
expressionsarenotactuallyequaltooneanother.
Aslightvariantofthiserrorconsistsofconnectingseveraldifferentequationswithequalsigns,where
theintermediateequalssignsareintendedtoconvey"equivalentto"forexample,x=y3=x+3=y.
Thisisveryconfusingandaltogetherwrong,becauseequalityistransitivei.e.,ifa=bandb=cthen
a=c,butxcertainlyisnotequaltox+3.Itwouldbebettertoreplacethatmiddleequalssignwithsome
othersymbol.Themostobvioussymbolforthispurposeis,whichmeans"isequivalentto,"butthat
symbolhasthedisadvantageoflookingtoomuchlikeanequalssign,andthuspossiblyleadingtothe
sameconfusion.Thus,abetterchoicewouldbeor,bothofwhichmean"ifandonlyif."Thus,I
wouldrewritetheexampleaboveasx=y3x+3=y.
Thereisalsoamore"advanced"formofthiserror.Somemoreadvancedstudents(e.g.,collegeseniors)
usetheimplicationsymbol()asasymbolforthephrase"thenextstepis."Astringofstatementsofthe
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form
ABCD
shouldmeanthatAbyitselfimpliesB,andBbyitselfimpliesC,andCbyitselfimpliesDthatisthe
coventionalinterpretationgivenbymathematicians.Butsomestudentsusesuchastringtomeanmerely
thatifwestartfromA,thenthenextstepinourreasoningisB(usingnotonlyAbutotherinformationas
well)andthenthenextstepisC(perhapsusingbothAandB),etc.
Actually,thereisasymbolfor"thenextstepis."Itlookslikethis: Itisalsocalled"leadsto,"andin
theLaTeXformattinglanguageitisgivenbythecode\leadsto.However,Ihaven'tseenitusedvery
often.

ErrorsinReasoning
Goingoveryourwork.Unfortunately,mosttextbooksdonotdevotealotofattentiontocheckingyour
work,andsometeachersalsoskipthistopic.Perhapsthereasonisthatthereisnowellorganizedbodyof
theoryonhowtocheckyourwork.Unfortunately,somestudentsendupwiththeimpressionthatitisnot
necessarytocheckyourworkjustwriteituponce,andhopethatit'scorrect.Butthat'snonsense.All
ofusmakemistakessometimes.Inanysubject,ifyouwanttodogoodwork,youhavetoworkcarefully,
andthenyouhavetocheckyourwork.InEnglish,thisiscalled"proofreading"incomputerscience,this
iscalled"debugging."
Moreover,inmathematics,checkingyourworkisanimportantpartofthelearningprocess.Sure,you'll
learnwhatyoudidwrongwhenyougetyourhomeworkpaperbackfromthegraderbutyou'lllearnthe
subjectmuchbetterifyoutryveryhardtomakesurethatyouranswersarerightbeforeyouturninyour
homework.
It'simportanttocheckyourwork,but"goingoveryourwork"istheworstwaytodoit.Ihavetwisted
somewordshere,inordertomakeapoint.By"goingoveryourwork"Imeanreadingthroughthesteps
thatyou'vejustdone,toseeiftheylookright.Thedrawbackofthatmethodisyou'requitelikelytomake
thesamemistakeagainwhenyoureadthroughyoursteps!Thisisparticularlytrueofconceptualerrors
e.g.,forgettingtocheckforextraneousroots(discussedlateronthiswebpage).
Youwouldbemuchmorelikelytocatchyourerrorif,instead,youcheckedyourworkbysomemethod
thatisdifferentfromyouroriginalcomputation.Indeed,withthatapproach,theonlywayyourerrorcan
goundetectedisifyoumaketwodifferenterrorsthatsomehow,justbyaremarkablecoincidence,
managetocanceleachotheroute.g.,ifyouarriveatthesamewronganswerbytwodifferentincorrect
methods.Thathappensoccasionally,butveryseldom.
Inmanycases,yoursecondmethodcanbeeasier,becauseitcanmakeuseofthefactthatyoualready
haveananswer.Thistypeofcheckingisnot100%reliable,butitisveryhighlyreliable,anditmaytake
verylittletimeandeffort.
Hereisasimpleexample.Supposethatwewanttosolve3(x2)+7x=2(x+1)forx.Hereisacorrect
solution:
3(x2)+7x=2(x+1)
3x6+7x=2x+2
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3x+7x2x=2+6
8x=8
x=1
Now,oneeasywaytocheckthisworkistoplugx=1intoeachsideoftheoriginalequation,andseeif
theresultscomeoutthesame.Ontheleftside,wehave3(x2)+7x=3(12)+7(1)=3(1)+7(1)=(3)+7
=4.Ontherightside,wehave2(x+1)=2(1+1)=2(2)=4.Thosearethesame,sothecheckworks.It's
easierthantheoriginalcomputation,becauseintheoriginalcomputationwewerelookingforxinthe
check,wealreadyhaveacandidateforx.Nevertheless,thiscomputationwasbyadifferentmethodthan
ouroriginalcomputation,sotheanswerisprobablyright.
Differentkindsofproblemsrequiredifferentkindsofchecking.Forafewkindsofproblems,noother
methodofcheckingbesides"goingoveryourwork"willsuggestitselftoyou.Butformostproblems,
somesecondmethodofcheckingwillbeevidentifyouthinkaboutitforamoment.
Ifyouabsolutelycan'tthinkofanyothermethod,hereisalastresorttechnique:Putthepaperaway
somewhere.Severalhourslater(ifyoucanaffordtowaitthatlong),dothesameproblemsoverbythe
samemethod,ifneedbebutonanewsheetofpaper,withoutlookingatthefirstsheet.Thencompare
theanswers.Thereisstillsomechanceofmakingthesameerrortwice,butthismethodreducesthat
chanceatleastalittle.Unfortunately,thistechniquedoublestheamountofworkyouhavetodo,andso
youmaybereluctanttoemploythistechnique.Well,that'suptoyouit'syourdecision.Buthowbadly
doyouwanttomasterthematerialandgetthehighergrade?Howmuchimportancedoyouattachtothe
integrityofyourwork?
Onemethodthatmanystudentsusetochecktheirhomeworkisthis:beforeturninginyourpaper,
compareitwithaclassmate'spaperseeifthetwoofyougotthesameanswers.I'lladmitthatthisdoes
satisfymycriterion:Ifyougotthesameanswerforaproblem,thenthatanswerisprobablyright.This
approachhasbothadvantagesanddisadvantages.Onedisadvantageisthatitmayviolateyourteacher's
rulesabouthomeworkbeinganindividualeffortperhapsyoushouldaskyourteacherwhathisorher
rulesare.Anotherconcernis:howmuchdoyoulearnfromthecomparisonofthetwoanswers?Ifyou
discusstheproblemwithyourclassmate,youmaylearnsomething.Withorwithoutaclassmate's
involvement,ifyouthinksomemoreaboutthedifferentsolutionstotheproblem,youmaylearn
something.
Whenyoudofindthatyourtwoanswersdiffer,workverycarefullytodeterminewhichone(ifeither)is
correct.Don'thurrythroughthiscruciallastpartoftheprocess.You'vealreadydemonstratedyour
fallibilityonthistypeofproblem,sothereisextrareasontodoubttheaccuracyofanyfurtherworkon
thisproblemcheckyourresultsseveraltimes.
Perhapstheerroroccurredthroughmerecarelessness,becauseyouweren'treallyinterestedinthework
andyouwereinahurrytofinishitandputitaside.Ifso,don'tcompoundthaterror.Younowmustpay
foryourneglectyounowmustputinevenmoretimetomasterthematerialproperly!Theproblem
won'tjustgoawayorloseimportanceifyouignoreit.Mathematics,morethananyothersubject,is
verticallystructured:eachconceptbuildsonmanyconceptsthatprecededit.Onceyouleaveatopic
unmastered,itwillhauntyourepeatedlythroughoutmanyofthetopicsthatfollowit,inallofthemath
coursesthatfollowit.
Also,ifdiscoverthatyou'vemadeanerror,trytodiscoverwhattheerrorwas.Itmaybeatypeoferror
thatyouaremakingwithsomefrequency.Onceyouidentifyit,youmaybebetterabletowatchoutforit
inthefuture.
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Notnoticingthatsomestepsareirreversible.Ifyoudothesamethingtobothsidesofatrueequation,
you'llgetanothertrueequation.Soifyouhaveanequationthatissatisfiedbysomeunknownnumberx,
andyoudothesamethingtobothsidesoftheequation,thenthenewequationwillstillbesatisfiedby
thesamenumberx.Thus,thenewequationwillhaveallthesolutionsxthattheoldequationhadbutit
mightalsohavesomenewsolutions.
Someoperationsarereversiblei.e.,wehavethesamesetofsolutionsbeforeandaftertheoperation.
Forinstance,
Theoperation"multiplybothsidesoftheequationby2"isreversible.Forexample,thesetofall
numbersxthatsatisfyx23x2=4isthesameasthesetofallnumbersxthatsatisfy
2x26x4=8.Infact,toreversetheoperation,wejusthavetomultiplybothsidesofanequation
by1/2.
Theoperation"subtract7frombothsides"isreversible.Toreverseit,justadd7tobothsides.
Someoperationsarenotreversible,andsowemaygetnewsolutionswhenweperformsuchan
operation.Forinstance,
Theoperation"squarebothsides"isnotreversible.Forinstance,theequationx=3hasonlyone
solution,butwhenwesquarebothsides,wegetx2=9,whichhastwosolutions.
Theoperation"multiplybothsidesbyx4"isnotreversible.Theresultingequationwillhavefor
itssolutionsallofthesolutionsoftheoriginalequationplustheadditionalnewsolutionx=4.
Acommonlyusedmethodforsolvingequationsisthis:Constructasequenceofequations,goingfrom
oneequationtothenextbydoingthesamethingtobothsidesofanequation,choosingtheoperationsto
graduallysimplifytheequation,untilyougettheequationdowntosomethingobviouslike"x=5".This
methodisnotbadfordiscovery,butasamethodofcertificationitisunreliable.Tomakeitreliable,you
needtoaddonemorerule:
ifanyofyourstepsareirreversible,thenyoumustcheckforextraneousroots
whenyougettotheendofthecomputation.
That'sbecause,attheendofyourcomputationalprocedure,you'llhavenotonlythesolution(s)tothe
originalproblem,butpossiblyalsosomeadditionalnumbersthatdonotsolvetheoriginalproblem.How
doyoucheckforthem?Justplugeachofyouranswersintotheoriginalproblem,toseewhetheritworks.
Manystudents,unfortuntely,omitthatlaststep.
Firstexample:
Thegivenproblemis
reversiblestep)weobtain

2=x.Tobeginsolvingthisproblem,add2tobothsides(a
=x+2.Squarebothsidesanirreversiblestepweobtain

2x+12=x2+4x+4.Byaddingandsubtractingappropriateamountstobothsidesoftheequation(a
reversiblestep),weobtainx2+2x8=0.Nowsolvethatquadraticequationbyyourfavorite
methodbythequadraticformula,bycompletingthesquare,orbyfactoringbyinspection.We
obtain
x=2orx=4.
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Unfortunately,manystudentsstopatthissteptheybelievethey'redonetheywrite{2,4}for
theiranswer.Acorrectsolutioncontinuesasfollows:Sinceatleastoneofthestepsinour
procedurewasirreversible,wemustcheckforextraneousroots.Checkeachofthenumbers2and
4,toseeifitsatisfiestheequationoriginallygivenintheproblem.
2=(4+12)1/22=42=x,sowehaveacorrectsolution.

Whenx=2,then
However,
Whenx=4,then
solution.

2=(8+12)1/22=22x,sowehaveanincorrect

Thusthecorrectansweris{2}.
Secondexample.
Thegivenproblemis

weobtain

.Byaddingandsubtracting(reversible),

.Byfactoring(reversible),weobtain

.Canceloutanx

(irreversible)weobtainx(x+3)=0.Thesolutionsappeartobex=0andx=3.Somestudents
unfortunatelystophere,butweshouldn'toneofourstepswasirreversible.Checkingrevealsthat
x=0doesn'tworkinthegivenproblem,soit'sextraneous.Thecorrectanswerisjustx=3.
Ofcourse,evenasidefromtheissueofextraneousroots,anotherreasontocheckyouranswersisto
avoidarithmeticerrors.Thisisaspecialcaseof"checkingyourwork,"mentionedelsewhereonthisweb
page.Weallmakecomputationalmistakeswecancatchmostofourcomputationalmistakeswithalittle
extraeffort.
TheextraneousrootserrorwasbroughttomyattentionbyDr.RichardBeldin.ProfessorBeldintellsme
thathegaveatestheavilylacedwithextraneousrootsproblems,andwarnedthestudentsthat
suchproblemswouldappearonthetest,and
theappearanceofanextraneousrootinananswerwouldcosthalfthecreditforaproblem,so
thestudentsshouldcheckforextraneousroots.
ProfessorBeldinreportsthat,nevertheless,aboutathirdofthestudentsneglectedtocheck,onsomany
problemsthattheylosttwolettergradesontheoverallthetestscore.
ProfessorStephenGlasbyreportsthisinterestingexampleofignoringirreversibility.Wewishtoprove
sinx=(1cos2x).Webeginbysquaringbothsidesofthatequationweobtainsin2x=1cos2x.
Rearrangetermstoobtainsin2x+cos2x=1.That'strue,soapparentlytheproofisdone.Butit'snot,
becausesquaringbothsideswasirreversible.Infact,theequationsinx=(1cos2x)thatwe'vejust
"proved"isn'ttrueforinstance,tryx=/2.
Confusingastatementwithitsconverse.Theimplication"AimpliesB"isnotthesameasthe
implication"BimpliesA."Forinstance,
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ifIwentswimmingatthebeachtoday,thenIgotwettoday
isatruestatement.But
ifIgotwettoday,thenIwentswimmingatthebeachtoday
doesn'thavetobetruemaybeIgotwetbytakingashowerorbathathome.Thedifferenceiseasyto
seeinconcreteexampleslikethese,butitmaybehardertoseeintheabstractsettingofmathematics.
Sometechnicalterminologymightbehelpfulhere.Thesymbolmeans"implies."Thetwostatements
"AB"and"BA"aresaidtobeconversesofeachother.Whatwe'vejustexplainedisthatan
implicationanditsconversegenerallyarenotequivalent.
Ishouldemphasizetheword"generally"inthelastparagraph.Inafewcasestheimplications"AB"
and"BA"doturnouttobeequivalent.Forinstance,letp,q,rbethelengthsofthesidesofatriangle,
withrbeingthelongestsidethen
p2+q2=r2ifandonlyifthetriangleisarighttriangle.
The"if"partofthatstatementisthewellknownPythagoreanTheoremthe"onlyif"partisitsconverse,
whichalsohappenstobetruebutislesswellknown.
Somestudentsconfuseastatementwithitsconverse.Thismaystempartlyfromthefactthat,inmany
nonmathematicalsituations,astatementisequivalenttoitsconverse,andsoineveryday"human"
Englishweoftenusetheword"if"interchangeablywiththephrase"ifandonlyif".Forinstance,
I'llgotothevendingmachineandbuyasnackifIgethungry
soundsreasonable.ButmostpeoplewouldfigurethatifIdonotgethungry,thenIwon'tgobuyasnack.
So,evidently,whatIreallymeantwas
I'llgotothevendingmachineandbuyasnackifandonlyifIgethungry.
Mostpeoplewouldjustsaytheshortersentence,andmeanthelongeroneit'sasortofverbalshortcut.
Generallyyoucanfigureoutfromthecontextjustwhattherealmeaningis,andusuallyyoudon'teven
thinkaboutitonaconsciouslevel.
Tomakemattersmoreconfusing,mathematiciansarehumanstoo.Incertaincontexts,even
mathematiciansuse"if"whentheyreallymean"ifandonlyif."Youhavetofigurethisoutfromthe
context,andthatmaybehardtodoifyou'renewtothelanguageofmathematics,andnotafluent
speaker.Chiefly,mathematiciansusetheverbalshortcutwhenthey'regivingdefinitions,andthenyou
haveahint:thewordbeingdefinedusuallyisinitalicsorboldface.Forinstance,hereisthedefinitionof
continuityofarealvaluedfunctionf:
fiscontinuousifforeachrealnumberpandeachpositivenumberthereexistsapositive
number(whichmaydependonpand)suchthat,foreachrealnumberq,if|pq|<,
then|f(p)f(q)|<.
Thefourthwordinthisverylongsentenceisan"if"thatreallymeans"ifandonlyif",butweknowthat
because"continuous"isinboldfacethisisthedefinitionoftheword"continuous".
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Conversesalsoshouldnotbeconfusedwithcontrapositives.Thosetwowordssoundsimilarbutthey
meanverydifferentthings.Thecontrapositiveoftheimplication"AB"istheimplication
"(~B)(~A)",where~means"not."Thosetwostatementsareequivalent.Forinstance,
ifIwentswimmingatthebeachtoday,thenIgotwettoday
hasexactlythesamemeaningasthemorecomplicatedsoundingstatement
ifIdidn'tgetwettoday,thenIdidn'tgoswimmingatthebeachtoday.
Sometimeswereplaceastatementwithitscontrapositive,becauseitmaybeeasiertoprove,evenifitis
morecomplicatedtostate.(ThankstoValeryMishkinforbringingthisclassoferrorstomyattention.)
Workingbackward.Thisisanunreliablemethodofproofused,unfortunately,bymanystudents.We
startwiththestatementthatwewanttoprove,andgraduallyreplaceitwithconsequences,untilwearrive
atastatementthatisobviouslytrue(suchas1=1).Fromthatsomestudentsconcludethattheoriginal
statementistrue.Theyoverlookthefactthatsomeoftheirstepsmightbeirreversible.
Hereisanexampleofasuccessfulandcorrectuseof"workingbackward":weareaskedtoprovethat
thecuberootof3isgreaterthanthesquarerootof2.Wewritethesesteps:
Startbyassumingthethingthatwe'retryingtoprove:31/3>21/2.
Raisebothsidestothepower6thatyields(31/3)6>(21/2)6.
Simplifybothsides,usingtheruleofexponentsthatsays(ab)c=a(bc).Thusweobtain32>23.
Evaluate.Thatyields9>8,whichisclearlytrue.
Somestudentswouldbelievethatwehavenowproved31/3>21/2.Butthat'snotaproofyoushould
neverbeginaproofbyassumingtheverythingthatyou'retryingtoprove.Inthisexample,
however,allthestepshappentobereversible,sothosestepscanbemadeintoaproof.Wejusthaveto
rewritethestepsintheirproperorder:
9>8isobviouslytrue.
Rewritethatas32>23.
Rewritethatas(31/3)6>(21/2)6,byusingtheruleofexponentsthatsays(ab)c=a(bc).
Nowtakethesixthrootonbothsides.Thatleaves31/3>21/2.
Workingbackwardcanbeagoodmethodfordiscoveringproofs,thoughithastobeusedwithcaution,
asdiscussedbelow.Butitisanunacceptablemethodforpresentingproofsafteryouhavediscovered
them.Studentsmustdistinguishbetweendiscovery(whichcanbehaphazard,informal,illogical)and
presentation(whichmustberigorous).Thereasoningusedinworkingbackwardisareversalofthe
reasoningneededforpresentationoftheproofbutthatmeansreplacingeachimplication"AB"with
itsconverse,"BA".Aswepointedoutafewparagraphsago,thosetwoimplicationsaresometimes
notequivalent.
Insomecases,theimplicationisreversiblei.e.,somereversibleoperation(likemultiplyingbothsides
ofanequationby2,orraisingbothsidesofaninequalitytothesixthpowerwhenbothsideswere
alreadypositive)transformsstatementAintostatementB.Perhapsthestudentshavegottenintothehabit
ofexpectingallimplicationstobereversible,becauseearlyintheireducationtheywereexposedtomany
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reversibletransformationsaddingthree,multiplyingbyahalf,etc.Butinfact,mostimplicationsof
mathematicalstatementsarenotreversible,andso"workingbackward"isalmostneveracceptableasa
methodofpresentingaproof.
Workingbackwardcanbeusedfordiscoveringaproof(and,infact,sometimesitistheonlydiscovery
methodavailable),butitmustbeusedwithappropriatecaution.Ateachstepinthediscoveryprocess,
youstartfromsomestatementA,andyoucreatearelatedstatementBitmaybethecasethatthe
implicationAimpliesBisobvious.ButyouhavetothinkaboutwhetherBimpliesA.Ifyoucanfinda
convincingdemonstrationthatBimpliesA,thenyoucanproceed.Ifyoucan'tfindademonstrationofB
impliesA,thenyoumightaswelldiscardstatementB,becauseitisofnouseatalltoyoulookforsome
otherstatementtouseinstead.
Beginnersoftenmakemistakeswhentheyuse"workingbackward,"becausetheydon'tnoticethatsome
stepisirreversible.Forinstance,thestatementx>
didn'tknowthat,wemightcomeupwiththisproof:
Startwithwhatwewanttoprove:x>

isnottrueforallrealnumbersx.Butifwe

Since
meansthenonnegativesquarerootofx21,weknowthatitisnonnegative.Since
xisevenlarger,itisalsononnegative.
Squaringbothsidesofaninequalityisareversiblestepifbothsidesarenonnegative.Thuswe
obtainx2>x21.
Subtractx2frombothsides0>1.Andthat'sclearlytrue,regardlessofwhatxis.
"Thereforex>

forallrealnumbersx."

Butthatconclusioniswrong.Therightsideoftheinequalityisundefinedwhenx=0.5.Andwhenx=
2,thenbothsidesoftheinequalityaredefined,buttheinequalityisfalse.Seeifyoucanfindwherethe
reasoningwentawry.
Wellthen,ifreasoningbackwardisnotacceptableasapresentationofaproof,whatisacceptable?A
directproofisacceptable.Atheoremhascertainhypotheses(assumptions)andcertainconclusions.Ina
directproof,youstartwiththehypotheses,andyougenerateconsequencesi.e.,youstartmaking
sentences,whereeachsentenceiseitherahypothesisofthetheorem,anaxiom(ifyou'reusingan
abstracttheory),oraresultdeducedfromsomeearliertheoremusingsentencesyou'vealreadygenerated
intheproof.Theymustbeinorderi.e.,ifonesentenceAisusedtodeduceanothersentenceB,then
sentenceAshouldappearbeforesentenceB.Thegoalistoeventuallygenerate,amongthe
consequences,theconclusionofthedesiredtheoreom.
Somevariantsonthisarepossible,butonlyiftheexplanatorylanguageisusedverycarefullysuch
variantsarenotrecommendedforbeginners.Thevariantsinvolvephraseslike"itsufficestoshow
that...".Thesephrasesarelikeforeshadowinginastory,orlikedirectionsignsonahighway.They
intentionallyappearoutofchronologicalorder,tomaketheintendedroutemoreunderstandable.Butin
somesensetheyarenotreallypartoftheofficialprooftheyarejustcommentariesontheside,tomake
theofficialproofeasiertounderstand.Whenyoupassasignthatsays"100milestoNashville,"you're
notactuallyinNashvilleyet.
Perhapsthebiggestfailureintheproofsofbeginnersisaseverelackofwords.Abeginnerwillwrite
downanequationthatshouldbeaccompaniedbyeitherthephrase"wehavenowshown"orthephrase
"weintendtoshow",toclarifyjustwhereweareintheproof.Butthebeginnerwritesneitherphrase,and
thereaderisexpectedtoguesswhichitis.Thisislikeanovelinwhichtherearemanyflashbacksand
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alsomuchforeshadowing,butalltheverbsareinpresenttensethereadermusttrytofigureoutalogical
orderinwhichtheeventsactuallyoccur.
OneeasymethodthatIhavebegunrecommendingtostudentsisthis:Putaquestionmarkoverany
relationship(equalssign,greaterthansign,etc.)thatrepresentsanassertionthatyouwantto
prove,buthavenotyetproved.Anequalssignwithoutaquestionmarkwillthenbeunderstoodto
representanequationthatyouhavealreadyproved.Lateryoucanputacheckmarknexttotheequations
whosedoubthasbeenremoved.Thismethodmayhelpthestudentwritingthework,butunfortunatelyit
doesnotgreatlyhelptheteacherorgraderwhoisreadingtheworktheorderofstepsisstillobscured.
Anothercommonstyleofproofistheindirectproof,alsoknownasproofbycontradiction.Inthisproof,
westartwiththehypothesesofthedesiredtheorembutwemayalsoadd,asadditionalhypothesis,the
statementthat"thedesiredtheorem'sconclusionisfalse."Inotherwords,wereallywanttoprove
AB,sowestartbyassumingbothAand~B(where~means"not").Wethenstartgenerating
consequences,andwetrytogenerateacontradictionamongourconsequences.Whenwedoso,this
establishesthatABmusthavebeentrueafterall.Thiskindofproofishardertoread,butitisactually
easiertodiscoverandtowrite:wehavemorehypotheses(notonlyA,butalso~B),soitiseasierto
generateconsequences.Irecommendthatbeginnersavoidindirectproofsaslongaspossiblebutifyou
continuewithyourmatheducation,youwilleventuallyrunintosomeabstracttheoremsinhighermath
thatcanonlybeprovedbyindirectproof.
Difficultieswithquantifiers.Quantifiersarethephrases"thereexists"and"forevery."Manystudents
evenbeginninggraduatestudentsinmathematics!havelittleornounderstandingoftheuseof
quantifiers.Forinstance,whichofthesestatementsistrueandwhichisfalse,usingthestandardreal
numbersystem?
Foreachpositivenumberathereexistsapositivenumberbsuchthatbislessthana.
Thereexistsapositivenumberbsuchthatforeachpositivenumberawehaveblessthana.
Difficultywithquantifiersmaybecommon,butI'mnotsurewhatcausesthedifficulty.Perhapsitisjust
thatmathematicalsentencesaregrammaticallymorecomplicatedthannonmathematicalones.For
instance,arealvaluedfunctionfdefinedonthereallineiscontinuousif
foreachpointpandforeachnumberepsilongreaterthanzero,thereexistsanumberdelta
greaterthanzerosuchthat,foreachpointq,ifthedistancefromptoqislessthandelta,then
thedistancefromf(p)tof(q)islessthanepsilon.
Thissentenceinvolvesseveralnestedclauses,basedonseveralquantifiers:
foreachpointp...
foreachnumberepsilon...
thereexistsdeltasuchthat...
foreachpointq...
Nonmathematicalgrammargenerallydoesn'tinvolvesomanynestedclausesandsuchcrucialattentionto
theorderofthewords.
Ithinkthatmanystudentswouldbenefitfromthinkingofquantifiersasindicatorsofacompetition
betweentwoadversaries,asinacourtoflaw.Forinstance,whenIassertthatthefunctionfis
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continuous,Iamassertingthat
nomatterwhatpointpandwhatpositivenumberepsilonyouspecify,Icanthenspecifya
correspondingpositivenumberdelta,suchthat,nomatterwhatpointqyouthenspecify,if
youdemonstratethatyourqhasdistancefromyourplessthanmydelta,thenIcan
demonstratethattheresultingf(p)andf(q)areseparatedbyadistancelessthanyourepsilon.
Ofcourse,itmustbeunderstoodthatthetwoadversariesinmathematicsareemotionallyandmorally
neutral.Inacourtoflaw(atleast,asdepictedontelevision),itisoftenthecasethatonesideisthe"good
guys"andtheothersideisthe"badguys,"butinprinciplethelawissupposedtobeaneutralwayof
seekingthetruthmathematicalreasoningistoo.
Somestudentsmayhaveaneasiertimeavoidingerrorswithquantifiersiftheyactuallyusesymbols
insteadofwords.Thismaymakethedifferencesinthequantifiersmorevisuallyprominent.Thesymbols
touseare
universalquantifier

"forall"(or"foreach")

existentialquantifier

"thereexists"(or"thereexistsatleastone")

Withthosesymbols,myearliertwostatementsaboutrealnumberscanbewritten,respectively,as
( a>0)( b>0)(b<a).
( b>0)( a>0)(b<a).
Andthedefinitionofcontinuityofarealvaluedfunctionfdefinedonthereallinecanberestatedas
( p)( >0)( >0)( q)(if|pq|<,then|f(p)f(q)|<).
Nowyoucanseethefournestedquantifiersveryclearlythismayexplainwhythedefinitionisso
complicatedandperhapsitwillhelptoclarifywhatthedefinitionmeans.
SomereadershaverequestedthatIaddafewwordsaboutnegationsofquantifiers.Thebasicrulesare
these:~ = ~and~ = ~,where~means"not".Thatis,youcanmoveanegationpastaquantifier,if
youjustswitchwhichtypeofquantifieryou'reusing.Anexampleof~ = ~:
Saying"noteverypeanutinthisjarisstale"isthesamethingassaying"atleastonepeanut
inthisjarisnotstale."
Anexampleof~ = ~:
Saying"theredoesnotexistastalepeanutinthisjar"isthesamethingassaying"every
peanutinthisjarisnonstale."
Hereisamorecomplicatedexample:Followingareafewdifferentwaystosaythat"fisnot
continuous".StartwiththeformulathatIgaveabove,butwitha"not"infrontofit.Graduallymovethe
"not"totheright,switchingeachquantifierthatitpasses.Soallthesestatementsareequivalent:
~( p)( >0)( >0)( q)(if|pq|<,then|f(p)f(q)|<).
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(
(
(
(
(

p)~( >0)( >0)( q)(if|pq|<,then|f(p)f(q)|<).

p)( >0)~( >0)( q)(if|pq|<,then|f(p)f(q)|<).
p)( >0)( >0)~( q)(if|pq|<,then|f(p)f(q)|<).
p)( >0)( >0)( q)~(if|pq|<,then|f(p)f(q)|<).
p)( >0)( >0)( q)(|pq|<but|f(p)f(q)|).

Erroneousmethodjustifiedbyoneortwoinstancesofcorrectresults.Sometimesanerroneous
methodcanlead(justbycoincidence)toacorrectresult.Butthatdoesnotjustifythemethod.
Sampleproblem:Simplify16/64.
Erroneousmethod:Cancelthe6's.
Correctanswer:1/4.
Belowisanothercomputationlikethat.Canyoufindallofitserrors?Somestudentactuallyturnedthis
inonanexam,andexpectedpartialcreditbecausehehadtherightanswer.(ThankstoSeanRaleighfor
bringingthisonetomyattentionthesolutionwasgradedbyBoernLamel.)

Unquestioningfaithincalculators.Manystudentsbelievethattheircalculatorsarealwaysright.But
thatisnottrue.Allcalculatorshavelimitations,andwillgiveincorrectanswersundersome
circumstances(aswillmathteachersandmathbooks).
Probablythemostcommonerrorwithcalculatorsissimplyforgettingtoswitchbetweendegreesand
radians(ornotunderstandingtheneedtoswitch).Degreesareoftenusedinengineeringandscience
classes,butradiansarealmostalwaysusedincalculusandhighermathclasses.That'sbecausemostof
theformulasinvolvingtrigonometricfunctionscomeoutmuchsimplerwithradiansthanwithdegrees
theformulasforthederivatives,forthepowerseriesexpansions,etc.
Hereisanotherwidelyoccurringcalculatorerror.Somegraphingcalculators,ifaskedtodisplayagraph
ofx^(1/3)orx^(2/3),willonlydisplaytherighthalfofthegraphi.e.,therewillbenopointsplottedin
thelefthalfplane.Butthefunctionx^(1/3)isodd,andthefunctionx^(2/3)isevenbothfunctions(if
graphedcorrectly)havepointsinboththerightandlefthalfplanes.Togetacorrectgraph,youneedto
lookinthecalculator'sfunctionmenusuntilyoufindaspecial"button"forcuberoots.Usethattoget
x^(1/3)usethesquareofthecuberoottogetx^(2/3).
Whyisthat?Well,firstyouneedtounderstandthatforsomeconstantsk,thecorrectgraphofx^kis
blankinthelefthalfplane,becausethefunctionx^kisactuallyundefinedforx<0.Forinstance,k=1/2
isonesuchconstant.Thenumbers1/3and2/3arenotsuchconstants,butifyousimplypunchinthe
formulax^(1/3)orx^(2/3)usingthecaretsymbol(^)forexponentiation,thecalculatormustreplacethe
fractions1/3or2/3withsomesortofapproximationssuchask=0.3333ork=0.6667.Those
approximationsturnouttohavethesamepropertyIjustmentionedfork=0.5theresultingfunctionis
undefinedforxlessthan0.Youavoidthisapproximationerrorbyusingthecuberootbutton.
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DaveRusinhasputtogethersomenotesonthewidevarietyoferrorsonecanmakebynotunderstanding
one'scalculator.Bytheway,I'lltakethisopportunitytomentionthatDaveRusinhasputtogethera
superwebsite,MathematicalAtlas:AgatewaytoMathematics,whichoffersdefinitions,introductions,
andlinkstoallsortsoftopicsinmath.

UnwarrantedGeneralizations
Aformulaornotationmayworkproperlyinonecontext,butsomestudentstrytoapplyitinawider
context,whereitmaynotworkproperlyatall.RobinChapmanalsocallsthistypeoferror"crass
formalism."Hereisoneexamplethathehasmentioned:
Everypositivenumberhastwosquareroots:onepositive,theothernegative.Thenotationbgenerally
isonlyusedwhenbisanonnegativerealnumberitmeans"thenonnegativesquarerootofb,"andnot
just"thesquarerootofb."Thenotationbprobablyshouldnotbeusedatallinthecontextofcomplex
numbers.Everynonzerocomplexnumberbhastwosquareroots,butingeneralthereisnonaturalway
tosaywhichoneshouldbeassociatedwiththeexpressionb.Theformula
iscorrectwhen
aandbarepositiverealnumbers,butitleadstoerrorswhengeneralizedindiscriminatelytootherkinds
ofnumbers.Beginnersintheuseofcomplexnumbersarepronetoerrorssuchas
.Infact,thegreatmathematicianLeonhardEuler
publishedacomputationsimilartothisinabookin1770,whenthetheoryofcomplexnumberswasstill
young.
Hereisanotherexample,frommyownteachingexperience:Whatisthederivativeofxx?Ifyouaskthis
duringthefirstweekofcalculus,acorrectansweris"wehaven'tcoveredthatyet."Butmanystudents
willveryconfidentlytellyouthattheanswerisxxx1.Someofthemmayevensimplifythat
expressionitreducestoxxandafewstudentswillevenremark:"Say,that'sinterestingxxisits
ownderivative!"Ofcourse,allthesestudentsarewrong.Thecorrectanswer,coveredafterabouta
semesterofcalculus,is

(xx)=xx(1+lnx).

Thedifficultyisthat,inhighschoolorshortlyaftertheyarriveatcollege,thestudentshavelearnedthat
(xk)=kxk1
ThatformulaisactuallyWRONG,butinaverysubtleway.Thecorrectformulais
(xk)=kxk1(forallxwheretherightsideisdefined),ifkisanyconstant.
Theequationisunchanged,butit'snowaccompaniedbysomewordstellinguswhentheequationis
applicable.I'vethrownintheparenthetical"forallxwheretherightsideisdefined,"inordertoavoid
discussingthecomplicationsthatarisewhenx0.ButthepartthatIreallywanttodiscusshereisthe
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otherparti.e.,thephrase"ifkisanyconstant."
Tomostteachers,thatadditionalphrasedoesn'tseemimportant,becauseintheteacher'smind"x"usually
meansavariableand"k"usuallymeansaconstant.Thelettersxandkareusedindifferentwayshere,a
littlelikethedifferencebetweenboundandfreevariablesinlogic:Fixanyconstantkthentheequation
statesarelationshipbetweentwofunctionsofthevariablex.Sothelanguagesuggeststousthatxis
probablynotsupposedtoequalk.
Butthemathteacherisalreadyfluentinthislanguage,whereasmathematicsisaforeignlanguageto
moststudents.Tomoststudents,thedistinctionbetweenthetwoboxedformulasisonewhichdoesn't
seemimportantatfirst,becausetheonlyexamplesshowntothestudentatfirstarethoseinwhichk
actuallyisaconstant.Whybothertomentionthatkmustbeaconstant,whentherearenoother
conceivablemeaningsfork?Sothestudentmemorizesthefirst(incorrect)formula,ratherthanthe
second(correct)formula.
EverymathematicalformulashouldbeaccompaniedbyafewwordsofEnglish(oryournatural
language,whateveritis).ThewordsinEnglishtellwhentheformulacanorcan'tbeapplied.But
frequentlyweneglectthewords,becausetheyseemtobeclearfromthecontext.Whenthecontext
changes,thewordsthatwe'veomittedmaybecomecrucial.
Studentshavedifficultywiththis.HereisanexperimentthatIhavetriedafewtimes:Atthebeginning
ofthesemester,Itellthestudentsthatthecorrectanswerto

(xx)isnotxx,butratherxx(1+lnx),and

Itellthemthatthisproblemwillbeontheirfinalexamattheendofthesemester.Irepeatthese
statementsonceortwiceduringthesemester,andIrepeatthemagainattheveryendofthesemester,just
beforeclassesend.Nevertheless,alargepercentage(sometimesathird)ofmystudentsstillgetthe
problemwrongonthefinalexam!Theiroriginal,incorrectlearningpersistsdespitemyefforts.
Ihaveacoupleoftheoriesaboutwhythishappens:(i)Formoststudents,mathematicsisaforeign
language,andthestudentfocuseshisorherattentiononthepartwhichseemsmostforeigni.e.,the
formulas.Thewordshavetheappearanceofsomethingfamiliar("oh,that'sjustEnglish,andIalready
knowEnglish"),andsothestudentdoesn'tpayalotofattentiontothewords.(ii)Undergraduatestudents
tendtofocusonmechanicalcomputationstheyarenotyetmathematicallymatureenoughtobeableto
thinkeasilyabouttheoreticalandabstractideas.
Asortoffootnote:Hereisacommonerroramongreadersofthiswebpage.Severalpeoplehavewrittentometoask,
shouldn'tthatformulasay"ifkisanyconstantexcept0",or"ifkisanyconstantexcept1",orsomethinglikethat?They
thinksomespecialnoteneedstobemadeaboutthelogarithmcase.Actually,myformulaiscorrectasitstandsi.e.,for
everyconstantrealnumberkbutifyouwanttotellthewholestory,you'dhavetoappendsomeadditionalformula(s).
Whenk=0,myformulajustsaysthederivativeof1is0x1that'struebutnotveryenlightening.Myformuladoesn'tmention,
butalsodoesn'tcontradict,thefactthatthederivativeofln(x)is1x1.Youcanalwayssaymoreaboutanysubject,butIjust
wantedtocontrasttheformulasxkandxxassimplyaspossible....Andofcourse,forsimplicity'ssake,Ihaven'tmentionedthe
complicationsyourunintowhenxiszerooranegativenumberI'monlyconsideringthosevaluesofxforwhichxkandxx
areeasytodefine.

OtherCommonCalculusErrors
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Jumpingtoconclusionsaboutinfinity.Someproblemsinvolvinginfinitycanbesolvedusing"the
elementaryarithmeticofinfinity".Somestudentsjumptotheconclusionthatallproblemsinvolving
infinitycanbesolvedbythissortof"elementaryarithmetic,"andsotheyguessallsortsofincorrect
answers(mainly0orinfinity)tosuchproblems.
Hereisanexampleofthe"elementaryarithmetic":Ifweusetheequationcautiously,wecansay
(informally)that1/=0thoughperhapsitwouldbelessmisleadingtowriteinstead1/0.(My
thankstoHansAbergforthissuggestionandforseveralothersuggestionsonthiswebpage.)Whatthis
rulereallymeansisthatifyoutakeamediumsizednumberanddivideitbyanenormousnumber,you
getanumberverycloseto0.Forinstance,withoutdoinganyrealwork,wecanusethisruletoconclude
ataglancethat
Thus,theproblem1/hastheanswer0.Theproblemdoesnothaveananswerinanyanalogous
fashionwemightsaythatisundefined.Thisdoesnotmeanthat"Undefined"istheanswertoany
problemoftheform.Whatitmeans,rather,isthateachprobleminvolvingrequiresa
separateanalysisdifferentproblemsofthistypehavedifferentanswers.Forinstance,

Thosefirsttwoproblemsarefairlyobviousthelastproblemtakesmoresophisticatedanalysis.Just
guessingwouldnotgetyouananswerof1/2.(Ifyoudon'tunderstandwhatisgoingoninthelast
problem,trygraphingthefunctions
andxononedisplayscreenonyourgraphingcalculator.
Thatmayprovidealotofinsight,thoughit'snotaproof.)
Inasimilarfashion,

donothavequickandeasyanswerstheytoorequiremorespecialized

andsophisticatedanalyses.
HereisacommonerrormentionedbyStuartPrice:Somestudentsseemtothinkthat
limn (1+(1/n))n=1.Theirreasoningisthis:"Whenn,then1+(1/n)1.Nowcompute
limn 1n=1."Ofcourse,thisreasoningisjustabittoosimplistic.Youhavetodealwithbothofthe
n'sintheexpression(1+(1/n))natthesametimei.e.,theybothgotoinfinitysimultaneouslyyoucan't
figurethatonegoestoinfinityandthentheothergoestoinfinity.Andinfact,ifyoulettheotheronego
toinfinityfirst,you'dgetadifferentanswer:limn (1+0.0000001)n=.Soevidentlytheanswerlies
somewherebetween1and.Thatdoesn'ttellusmuchmypointhereisthateasymethodsdonotwork
onthisproblem.Thecorrectanswerisanumberthatisnear2.718.(It'sanimportantconstant,knownto
mathematiciansas"e".)There'snowayyoucouldgetthatbyaneasymethod.
Thatremindsmeofarelatedquestionthatseemstobothermanystudents:Whatis00?
Thereasonthataquestionarisesatallisbecausexyisdiscontinuousat(0,0).Indeed,wehavex0=1for
allx>0,andwehave0y=0forally>0.Andlimx,y0+ xydoesn'texist,becausethatexpressionmeans
thelimitofxyasthepoint(x,y)approaches(0,0)alongallpathswherexyisdefined.
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Nevertheless,many(most?)mathematicianswilldefine00=1,justforconvenience,becausethatmakes
themostformulaswork(andthentheywillnoteexceptionsforformulasthatrequireadifferent
definition).
Forinstance,ifwe'reworkingwithpolynomialsorpowerseries,
p(x)=a0x0+a1x1+a2x2+a3x3+...+anxn+...
perhapsthemostcommonplacefor00toarisethenit'sconvenienttohave00=1,sincea0x0needs
tobeequaltoa0.TheBinomialTheoremwouldbemorecomplicatedtowriteifwedefined00anyother
way.
Problemswithseries.SeanRaleighreportsthatthemostcommonserieserrorhehasseenisthis:If
a1,a2,a3,...isasequenceconvergingto0,thenmanystudentsconclude(erroneously)thattheseries
a1+a2+a3+...mustbeconvergent(i.e.,mustadduptoafinitenumber).Perhapstheyholdthatbelief
becauseitistrueformostoftheexamplesthattheyhaveseen.Mostcounterexamplesaretooadvanced
tobeincludedinanelementarytextbook.Ofcourse,everycalculusbookgivesthesimpleexampleofthe
harmonicseries:
1+(1/2)+(1/3)+(1/4)+...=
butonesingleexampleofdivergencedoesnotseemtooutweighinthestudents'mindsthemany
examplesofconvergencethattheyhaveseen.
Lossormisuseofconstantsofintegration.Theindefiniteintegralofafunctioninvolvesan"arbitrary
constant",andthiscausesconfusionformanystudents,becausethenotationdoesn'tconveytheconcept
verywell.Anexpressionsuchas"3x2+5x+C"reallyissupposedtorepresentaninfinitecollectionof
functionsitrepresentsallofthefunctions
3x2+5x+7,3x2+5x+19,3x2+5x3.19,etc.
plusmorefunctionsofthesamesort.Oneofthedifficulties,also,isthatthesameletter"C"is
customarilyusedforallsucharbitraryconstantsbutonecomputationmayinvolveseveraldifferent
arbitraryconstants.ItwouldbemoreaccuratetoputsubscriptsontheC's,todifferentiateoneofthem
fromanotheri.e.,writeC1,C2,C3,etc.andIoftendothatinmylectures.
Hereisanexample.TheformulaforIntegrationByParts,initsbriefestform,isudv=uvvduthat
canbeunderstoodmoreeasilyas
u(x)v'(x)dx=u(x)v(x)u'(x)v(x)dx.
Now,thatformulaiscorrect,butitcaneasilybemishandledandcanleadtoerrors.Hereisone
particularlyamusingerror:Plugu(x)=1/xandv(x)=xintotheformulaabove.Weget
(1/x)(1)dx=(1/x)(x)(1/x2)(x)dx
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whichsimplifiesto

(1/x)dx=1+(1/x)dx.
Now,regardlessofwhatyouthinkisthevalueof(1/x)dx,youjusthavetosubtractthatamountfrom
bothsidesoftheprecedingequation,toobtain0=1.Wait,howcanthatbe????Well,ifwe'revery
careful,werealizethatthetwo(1/x)dx'sonthetwosidesofthelastequationarenotactuallythesame.
Whatthatlastequationreallysaysis

[ln|x|+C1]=1+[ln|x|+C2].
Thatisatrueequation,ifwechoosetheconstantsC1andC2appropriatelyi.e.,ifwechoosethemso
thatC1C2=1.Thus,thetwoconstantsarenotindependentofeachothertheyarenotcompletely
"arbitrary".Perhapsamoreaccurateexplanationisthis:Thetwoexpressions[ln|x|+C1]and
1+[ln|x|+C2]donotactuallyrepresentindividualfunctionsrather,eachofthoseexpressionsrepresents
asetoffunctions.
Theexpression[ln|x|+C1]representsthesetofallthefunctionsofxthatcanbeobtainedby
startingwiththefunctionln|x|andthenaddingaconstant.
Theexpression1+[ln|x|+C2]representsthesetofallthefunctionsofxthatcanbeobtainedby
startingwiththefunctionln|x|,thenaddingaconstant,andthenadding1.
Thosetwodescriptionsmaysounddifferent,butifyouthinkaboutit,you'llseethatthosedescriptions
areneverthelessspecifyingthesameset.MythankstoAntonioFerraioli("Ferra")forthis0=1paradox
anditsexplanation.
Somestudentsmanagetomakethiskindoferrorevenwithdefiniteintegrals.Theystartfromthe
formula(1/x)dx=1+(1/x)dx,whichiscorrectbutthenwhenthey"switchtodefiniteintegrals",they
gettheformulaab(1/x)dx=1+ab(1/x)dx,whichisnotcorrect.Ifyoureallywantto"switchtodefinite
integrals",youneedtothinkofthatconstant1asaspecialsortoffunction.Whenyouswitchtodefinite
integrals,anyfunctionp(x)getsreplacedbyp(b)p(a).Inparticular,theconstantfunction1isthe
functiongivenbyp(x)=1forallx.Sop(b)p(a)becomes11,or0.
Somestudentsmayunderstandthisbetterifwedothewholethingwithdefiniteintegrals,rightfromthe
start.Let'susetheformula

abu(x)v(x)dx=u(b)v(b)u(a)v(a)abu(x)v(x)dx.
Notethatthisformulahasonemoretermthanmypreviousboxedformulawhenweconvertu(x)v(x)
tothedefiniteintegralversion,wereplaceitwithu(b)v(b)u(a)v(a).Nowpluginu(x)=1/xandv(x)=x.
Weget

ab(1/x)(1)dx=(1/b)(b)(1/a)(a)ab(1/x2)(x)dx
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which(assuming0isnotintheinterval[a,b])simplifiesto

[ln|b|ln|a|]=11[ln|b|+ln|a|]
whichistruei.e.,thereisnocontradictionhere.
SomestudentsmaybepuzzledbythedifferencesbetweenthetwoversionsoftheIntegrationbyParts
formula(inboxes,inthelastfewparagraphs).Iwilldescribeinalittlemoredetailhowyougetfromthe
definiteintegralformula(inthelastbox)totheindefiniteintegralformula(inthefirstboxinthis
section).Thinkofaasaconstantandbasavariable,andyou'llgetsomethinglikethis:

[u(x)v(x)dx+C1]=[u(x)v(x)C2][u(x)v(x)dx+C3].
Notethattheu(b)v(b)termgetsreplacedbyu(x)v(x),andtheu(a)v(a)term"disappears"becauseitis
constant.Finally,wecan"absorb"thearbitraryconstantsintotheindefiniteintegralsi.e.,wedon'tneed
towriteC1,C2,C3,becauseanyindefiniteintegralisonlydetermineduptoaddingorsubtractinga
constantanyway.Thus,wearriveatthebrieferformulau(x)v(x)dx=u(x)v(x)u(x)v(x)dx.
Handlingconstantsofintegrationgetsevenmorecomplicatedinthefirstcourseondifferentialequations,
andthereareevenmorekindsoferrorspossible.Iwon'ttrytolistallofthemhere,buthereisthe
simplestandmostcommonerrorthatI'veseen:Incalculus,somestudentsgettheideathatyoucanjust
omitthe"+C"inyourintermediatecomputations,andthentackitonattheendofyouranswer,ifyou
knowwhichkindsofproblemsrequireanarbitraryconstant.Thatwillusuallyworkincalculus,butit
doesn'tworkindifferentialequations,becauseindifferentialequationsthe"C"canshowupanywhere
notnecessarilyasa"+C"attheendoftheanswer.
Here'sasimpleexample:Let'ssolvethedifferentialequationxy+7=y(whereymeansdy/dx).Oneway
tosolveitisbythefollowingsteps:
Rewritetheproblemasy(1/x)y=7/x,toshowthatitislinear.
Theintegratingfactoristhenexp[(1/x)dx]=1/x.
Multiplybothsidesofthedifferentialequationbytheintegratingfactor,toobtainanexact
differentialequation:(y/x)=(1/x)y(1/x2)y=7/x2.
Integratebothsides.Thusy/x=(7/x)+C.
Solvefory.Thusy=7+Cx.
That'sthecorrectanswer.Butifwehadtakentheattitude"don'tbotherwithC,justtackitonwhen
you'redone,"insteadofthelasttwostepswe'dhavewritten:
"Integratebothsides.Thusy/x=7/x."
"Solvefory.Thusy=7."
"Tackonthe"+C".Thusy=7+C."
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That'swrong,whetheryousimplifyitornot.
Lossofdifferentials.Thisshowsupbothindifferentiationandinintegration.The"lossofdifferentials"
ismuchlikethe"lossofinvisibleparentheses"discussedearlierinthisdocumentitisatypeofsloppy
writinginintermediatestepswhichleadstoactualerrorsinthefinalanswer.
Whenstudentsfirstbegintolearntodifferentiate,theyarealwaysdifferentiatingwithrespecttothesame
variable,andsotheyseenoreasontomentionthatvariable.Thus,indifferentiatingthefunctiony=f(x)
=7x3+5x,theymaycorrectlywrite

ortheymayincorrectlywrite"dy=21x2+5."Theomissionofthe"dx"fromthislastequationmakesno
realdifferenceinthestudent'smind,andthisslovenlyomissionmaybecomeahabit.Butitwillcause
difficultieslaterinthecourse.Infact,Iamstartingtothinkthatwecouldavoidalotofdifficultyifwe
discouragebeginningcalculusstudentsfromusingthenotationsf(x)orDy.Ifwerequirethemtousethe
notationdy/dx,andpenalizethemforwritingitasdy,wemightsavethemalotofheadacheslater.
Thedifficulty,ofcourse,showsupwhenwearriveattheChainRule.Suddenly,thequestionisnolonger
"Whatisthederivativeofy",butrather,"Whatisthederivativeofywithrespecttox?withrespecttou?
Howarethosetwoderivativesrelated?"Thestudentwhodoesnotmakeahabitofdistinguishing
betweendy/dxanddy/duinwritingmayalsohavedifficultydistinguishingbetweenthemconceptually,
andthuswillhavedifficultyunderstandingtheChainRule.
Thisalsoleadstodifficultieswiththe"usubstitutions"rule,whichisjusttheChainRuleturnedintoa
ruleaboutintegrals.Forinstance:

Whatcausestheseerrors?
Forthefirstthreeproblems,thestudentisattemptingtousetheformula(1/u)du=ln|u|+C(whichisa
correctformula,butnotdirectlyapplicable).However,thestudenthaslearneditincorrectlyas
"(1/u)=ln|u|+C."Substituteu=1+x2oru=x3oru=cosxintothatformulatogetthefirstthree
erroneousanswersinthetableabove.Theexpressions(1/u)duand(1/u)dxhaveverydifferent
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meanings,butyou'relikelytoconfusethemifyouwritethembothas(1/u).
Forthelastprobleminthetableabove,thestudentisattemptingtousetheformulau2du=(1/3)u3+C,
whichisacorrectformula,butnotrelevanttothepresentproblem.Thestudenthasprobabymemorized
thatformulaintheincorrectformu2=(1/3)u3+C.Theexpressionsu2duandu2dxhaveverydifferent
meanings,butyou'relikelytoconfusethemifyouwritethembothasu2.
Anothercorrectwaytowritetheruleaboutlogarithmsis

.Sincethis

expresseseverythingintermsofthevariablex,itmaymakeerrorslesslikely.Admittedly,itisa
complicatedlookingformula,butitispreferabletoawrongformula.Thefirst,third,andfourthproblems
intheprecedingtableallrequiremorecomplicatedmethodsjustusinglogarithmswon'tsolvethe
problemsforyou.Theproblemofintegratingx3actuallyrequiresalesscomplicatedmethodi.e.,
withoutlogarithms.
Weshouldprohibitstudentsfromwritinganintegralsignwithoutamatchingdifferential.Justasany"("
mustbematchedwitha")",sotooanyintegralsignmustbematchedwitha"dx"or"du"or"dt"or
whatever.Theexpression
isunbalanced,andshouldbeprohibited.Ifwe'reconsideringa
substitutionofu=1+x2,then(1/u)duisverydifferentfrom(1/u)dx,andsotheexpression(1/u)is
ambiguousandmeaningless.Ifyouwrite(1/u)inoneofyourintermediatesteps,youmayforget
whetheritrepresents(1/u)duor(1/u)dx,andyoumayinadvertentlyswitchfromonetotheother
thusreplacingonemathematicalquantitywithanothertowhichitisnotequal.
Bytheway,somestudentsgetconfusedaboutwhether(1/u)dushouldbeln|u|+Corln(u)+C.Hereisan
answer.(1/u)duisalwaysequaltoln|u|+C,butsometimesthatanswercanbesimplifiedandsometimes
itcan't.Inmath,wegenerallyprefertowriteouranswersinsimplestform(andwesometimesinsiston
it).Inthosesituationswhereweknowthatuwillonlytakepositivevalues(e.g.,whenu=1+x2,orwhen
thedomainisrestrictedsothatucan'tbenegative),then(1/u)dushouldbewrittenasln(u)+C.Inthose
situationswherewedon'tknowwhetheruwillbepositive,weshouldwritetheanswerasln|u|+C.(But
sometimesweomittheabsolutevaluesignoutofsheerlaziness,justifyingthiswiththeexcusethatwe
canmakethedomainsmaller.)
Theselossofdifferentialserrorsindifferentiationandinintegrationcanbecaughteasilybyabitof
"dimensionalanalysis"(discussedearlier).Todothat,itisusefultothinkintermsof"infinitesimals"
i.e.,numbersthatare"infinitelysmall"butstillnotzero.NewtonandLeibnizhadinfinitesimalsinmind
whentheyinventedcalculus300yearsago,buttheydidn'tknowhowtoexplaininfinitesimals
rigorously.Infinitesimalsbecameunfashionableacenturyortwolater,whenrigorousepsilondelta
proofswereinvented.Ifweusetherealnumbersystemthatmostmathematiciansusenowadays,there
arenoinfinitesimalsexcept0.Butin1960alogiciannamedAbrahamRobinsoninventedanotherkindof
realnumbersystemthatincludesnonzeroinfinitesimalshefoundawaytobackuptheNewtonLeibniz
intuitionwithrigorousproofs.
WiththeNewtonLeibnizRobinsonviewpoint,thinkofdxanddyasinfinitesimals.Now,dy/dxisa
quotientoftwoinfinitelysmallnumbers,soitcouldbeamediumsizednumber.Thusanequationsuch
asdy/dx=6x2couldmakesense.Anequationsuchasdy=6x2cannotpossiblybecorrecttheleftside
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isinfinitelysmall,andtherightsideismediumsized.
Thesummationsignmeansaddtogetherfinitelyorcountablymanythingsforinstance,

butgenerallyisnotusedforaddinguncountablymanythings.
(Occasionallyitissoused:Thesumofanarbitrarycollectionofnonnegativerealnumbersisthesupofthesumsoffinitely
manymembersofthatcollection.Butalltheinterestingactionishappeningonacountableset.Itcanbeprovedthatifmore
thancountablymanyofthosenumbersbeingaddedarenonzero,thesummustbeinfinity.Also,theremaybeother,more
esotericusesforthesymbol.Butthiswebpageisintendedforundergraduates.)

However,insomesenseweaddtogetheruncountablymanythingswhenweuseanintegral.Anequation
suchas3x2dx=x3+Csaysthatweaddtogetheruncountablymanyinfinitesimals,andwegeta
mediumsizednumber.Anequationsuchas3x2=x3+Ccouldn'tpossiblyberightitsaysweadd
togetheruncountablymanymediumsizednumbersandgetamediumsizednumber.
Arelateddifficultyisintryingtounderstandwhat"differentials"are.Mostrecentcalculusbookshaveafewpagesonthis
topic,shortlybeforeoraftertheChainRule.Iamverysorrythattheauthorsofcalculusbookshavechosentocoverthistopic
atthispointinthebook.Ithinktheyaremakingabigmistakeindoingso.WhenIteachcalculus,Iskipthatsection,withthe
intentionofcoveringitinalatersemester.Hereiswhy:
Wheny=f(x),thendy=f(x)dxisreallyafunctionoftwovariablesitisafunctionofbothxanddx.Butinmanycalculus
textbooks,thatfactisnotconfronteddirectlyitissweptundertherugandhidden.Severalhundredpageslaterinmost
calculustextbooks,weareintroducedtofunctionsoftwovariables,andgivenadecentnotationfortheme.g.,wemayhave
z=h(u,v).Atthispointthestudentmaybegintounderstandfunctionsoftwovariables,andwehavepartialderivativesetc.
Butbeforethispoint,wearenotgivenanygoodnotationsforafunctionoftwovariables.Ourbeginningmathstudentshave
difficultyenoughwithabstractionsevenwhentheyareprovidedwithdecentnotationhowcanweexpectthemtothink
abstractlywithoutthenotation?Thus,whenIteachcalculus,Idescribe"dx"and"dy"as"piecesofthenotationdy/dx,"with
noindependentmeaningsoftheirown.Ithinkthatthisapproachismuchkindertothebeginningstudents.

Thiswebpagewasselectedasthe"coolmathwebpageoftheweek",fortheweekofMay22,2002,by
KaBoL.

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