My first week “back-to-school” was a success. Monday to Friday, I opened up KhanAcademy at 9am and spent an hour watching videos and working through problems. I’m currently going through the Pre-algebra course, working through the Ratios, Rates, Proportions section.

The week started with the question, “What is a Constant of Proportionality?” The short answer is K in the equation y=kx. As I’ve come to understand, the Constant of Proportionality defines the slope of a line on a standard graph where the line is proportional (i.e. a straight line).

If K=1, the line goes through the graph on a 45 degree angle. If K=>1, the line will have a greater angle than 45 degrees and if K=<1 the line will have an angle less than 45 degrees.

One question I have is, if the line was to slope the opposite direction, from high to low, left to right, would K be negative?

The week ended working on and understanding the algebraic theory behind cross multiplying (ex. finding x when ½=x/4). By the end of Friday I started to get a much better understanding of why two sides of an equation must stay equal and how to multiply factors on both sides to keep it equal in order to isolate X. Also, working with fractions has started to become more intuitive for me which makes them easier to comprehend and more enjoyable to work with.

Looking back through my workbook and seeing how much I was able to complete this week in KA, I’m concerned that my progress is too slow. I’m hoping to learn Calculus by the winter in order to apply to a post-secondary school (at this point I’m leaning towards Ryerson’s undergrad economic program). This coming week I should look at the courses I need to get through and figure out the rate I need to get through them all in order to complete everything by the time I’d like to apply.

Good thing I’ve been working on rates all week.