Algebra

Algebra is a type of maths which mixes letters and words with mathmatical values. When using algebra, you substitute any number into one letter.It is much easier to use letters than numbers when working out long sums, e.g, x-x=0. No matter which number you put in for x, the answer will always be the same. In other kinds of algebra, the actual sum is a puzzle, where you have to find out what the letter stands for. E.g, x-4=3. If you substitute the x for a 7, the sum works together, 7-4=3. Where if i substitute the x for a 8, the sum does not work.

The word algebra is a Latin variant of the Arabic word al-jabr. This came from the title of a book, Hidab al-jabr wal-muqubala, written in Baghdad about 825 A.D. by the Arab mathematician Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi.

The words //jabr// (JAH-ber) and //muqubalah// (moo-KAH-ba-lah) were used by al-Khowarizmi to designate two basic operations in solving equations. //Jabr// was to transpose subtracted terms to the other side of the equation. //Muqubalah// was to cancel like terms on opposite sides of the equation. In fact, the title has been translated to mean "science of restoration (or reunion) and opposition" or "science of transposition and cancellation" and "The Book of Completion and Cancellation" or "The Book of Restoration and Balancing." //Jabr// is used in the step where x - 2 = 12 becomes x = 14. The left-side of the first equation, where x is lessened by 2, is "restored" or "completed" back to x in the second equation. //Muqabalah// takes us from x + y = y + 7 to x = 7 by "cancelling" or "balancing" the two sides of the equation. Eventually the //muqabalah// was left behind, and this type of math became known as algebra in many languages. It is interesting to note that the word //al-jabr// used non-mathematically made its way into Europe through the Moors of Spain. There an //algebrista// is a bonesetter, or "restorer" of bones. A barber of medieval times called himself an algebrista since barbers often did bone-setting and bloodletting on the side. Hence the red and white striped barber poles of today. (Source: http://www.und.edu/instruct/lgeller/algebra.html)