Misconceptions
by
Ilan Samson & David Burghes

There are many misconceptions in people's understanding of mathematics which ultimately give rise to errors. The authors have identified 24 of those most commonly found and of these, the first 8 are listed below. The others will follow as they become available. Each of the documents to which these titles are linked provides an explanation of how the misconception arises so easily, together with some exercises aimed at reinforcing the correction needed. It is hoped that a study of the reason, together with practice of the exercises, will help to eliminate these errors.
These documents can be accessed using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

1. Rounding Numbers
2. Multiplication can Increase or Decrease a Number
3. Multiplying Decimals
4. Decimals and their Equivalent Fractions
5. Dividing Whole Numbers by Fractions
6. Adding with Negative Numbers
7. Calculations with Negative Numbers
8. Calculations with Hundreds and Thousands