Payton Reising 11/10/13

730 Math
Dealing Down For Dummies
The game we played in class, Dealing Down, it is a mathematic card game that is
supposed to test your creative skill at writing math expressions. Even though this game
is very fun, it isnt easy, and there are many strategies you have to know if you want to
win. Some of the things you need to understand are: the operations with positive and
negative numbers, the Order of Operations, the Commutative Properties of Addition
and Multiplication, and last but not least, the Distributive Property of Multiplication
over Addition and subtraction. In this report I will explain all of the strategies listed
above, so you too can have what it takes to play Dealing Down.
To start off, we need to cover all the operations with negative and positive
numbers. If you generalize all the rules, there are six major rules. There are four for
adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers and two for multiplying and
dividing positive and negative numbers. The first rule for adding and subtracting rational
numbers is: positive plus a positive is a positive (a+b=positive) (example: 3+5=8). The
second rule for adding and subtracting rational numbers is: positive minus a positive is a
negative if the second number is greater than the first number (a-b=negative if a<b)
[example: 3-5=(-2)]. The third rule is the opposite of the second: positive minus a
positive is a positive if the first number is greater than the second (a-b=positive if a>b)
(example: 5-3=2). The last rule is probably the simplest: a number minus itself is zero (a-
b=0 if a=b) (example: 3-3=0). Those are all of the rules for adding and subtracting with
rational numbers, but we still have to learn about multiplying and dividing rational
numbers. The first rule for multiplying and dividing rational numbers is: if the two
factors have the same sign than the product will be positive[ (+) x (+)= (+), (-) x (-)= (+)]
(example: -5 x -5= -25, 10/2=5). The second rule is: if the two factors in the equation
have different signs the product will be negative [(+) x (-)=(-)] (example: 25/-5=-5, -5 x 5=
-25). When you get to problems with more than two factors, just bunch every two
factors together (-9 x 7 x 3 x -2 x 1= positive).
The Order of Operations is extremely important in this game. If there were no
order of operations, there would be tons of answers to only one expression. This is
because people would be solving the problems in different orders or ways that will
make every one come up with a different solution. The Order of Operations ensures
consistency in calculations, as long as the same order is followed every time. The order
that you are supposed to solve a problem is parentheses first, exponents, then
multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. Kids, teachers, and adults also refer to
the order of operations as PEMDAS to remember the order of each operation. PEMDAS
is the first letter of each operation in order. Also, multiplication doesnt always come
before division. They are linked together in the same place in the order. It just matters
which comes first from left to right. The same thing goes with addition and subtraction.
The next thing we need to learn to play this game is the Commutative Properties
of Addition and Multiplication. This strategy is a very basic and simple rule to remember
and follow. The word commutative comes from commute or move around, so the
Commutative Property is the one that refers to moving numbers around. For addition,
the rule is a + b = b + a (example: 5+6=6+5). As you can see, it just means it doesnt
matter if you switch around the location of the number because it will still be the same
sum. For multiplication, the rule is ab = ba (example: 5x6=6x5). Again you can see it
doesnt matter if (a) comes before (b) or (b) comes before (a) because you will still get
the same product either way. This property just makes it easier to add and multiply
rational numbers because you dont have to worry about the order in which you add or
multiply them.
Finally we come to the Distributive Property of Multiplication over Addition and
Subtraction. The Distributive Property is easy to remember if you can remember that
multiplication distributes over addition. This is written as [a(b + c) = ab + ac] [example:
2(1+4)= 2x1+2x4]. Anytime questions mention the Distributive Property, take something
through the parentheses or factor something out and expand the expression. This
property can help you do calculations with rational numbers because it can help you
break down the problem to make it simpler to solve.
Now I am going to show you some strategies I used throughout the game when I
played, and how my strategies wouldnt have worked if I didnt use the properties and
operations I talked about above. In the first round I played of Dealing Down I won. The
cards that were dealt were -4, -10,1/3, and -9. My overall strategy was to make the
largest number I can and then make it negative. The expression I made was [(-9+1/3) x -
4] x (-10). By adding 1/3 to -9 I kept the result negative. Then when I multiplied it by -4 I
ended up with a product of a positive number. From there I had to multiply that by -10,
which made the result negative and 10 times smaller. I tried to make the biggest
positive number by multiplying two negative numbers, and then multiply it by the
smallest negative number/ a negative number with a great absolute value to create the
biggest absolute value on a negative number, therefor having to smallest value. I also
won the 5th round I played with my partner. The number we were dealt were 2,3, -3,
and -. My strategy for this round was to make the biggest positive number, and then
divide it by the smallest negative number, to make a negative number with a great
absolute value, therefor making the smallest number possible. The expression I came up
with was (-3
2
x 3)/ -. I know that when you divide a positive number by a negative
number the quotient will be negative because of the operations with positive and
negative numbers. Since I divided the positive number by a very small absolute value
the quotient will be a great absolute value, and it will be a negative number. A number
that has a large absolute value, but is negative makes for a very small number, and that
is how I won that round. Throughout the game I thought of an overall strategy for each
round, but without the properties and operations I talked about in this paper I would
have never been able to execute my thoughts. For example, if I didnt use the Order of
Operations in each round my numbers would not have worked out the way I wanted
them to. Lets say if I wanted to do (2+3) x 2, but I didnt use Order of Operations and
didnt put parenthesis, then my answer wouldnt be the same, and I wouldnt have been
able to win the game.

Now you should be able to play Dealing Down with me! Are you ready to test
your creative skills at writing math expressions and use all the strategies you learned?
Today we learned a lot of information, so lets recap. We learned the operations with
positive and negative numbers, the Order of Operations, the Commutative Properties of
Addition and Multiplication, and last but not least, the Distributive Property of
Multiplication over Addition and Subtraction. Hopefully you fully understand how to
play Dealing Down now.