Linear Equations for Algebra Dummies

One of our staff's pet peeves – they have a whole kennel full of them – is content-farm freelancers who don't quite understand the questions they're asked to address. A deficiency often becomes clear when they misuse technical terminology, which is why we're here today. The peeve is even more robust than usual, however, because of the rewrite Sciencing.com's Kevin Beck performed on "How to Graph Linear Equations With Two Variables."

Truth be told, we have no idea why the original version was rewritten, unless Leaf Group is either looking for work for its rewrite team or merely wants to churn its content. The original version¹ was written by mathematician Uriel Avalos and was well-nigh perfect. The version pounded out by elite runner and sometime magazine editor Beck, however, includes some errors.
Avalos's instructions were to solve for the x- and y-intercepts, plot them, and draw a line through them. As a check, pick another value of x and determine whether the resulting x,y coordinates lie on the same line. Why Leaf Group decided this needed rewriting is beyond us.

Beck started out OK, attempting to rewrite by rewording Avalos's post and changing the formula. We don't argue that he got the wrong answer, although his approach was slightly different: find the y-intercept, determine the slope, and draw a line of that slope through the intercept. That'll work, although we think Avalos's solution is more elegant. No, what we argue with is the definitions Kevin, a one-time physics student, cobbled together for his instructions:

"...the equation takes the form y = mx + b, where m is the slope of the line of the corresponding graph and b is its y-intercept, the point at which the line meets the y-axis."

We find saying "the slope of the line of the... graph" redundant, but more importantly, the y-intercept is defined as the point at which the line crosses the y-axis, not the point at which it "meets" it. And then there's this business:

"y = -2x + 4... The variables in this equation are x and y, while the slope and y-intercept are constants." No, Kevin, the y-intercept (b) is a constant; the slope (m) is a coefficient - not a constant! We think someone rewriting a mathematician's work should do a better job, particularly if he claims to have a science background. We don't know: perhaps Beck spent too many years at a magazine, surrounded by J-school grads, and that's why he's a Dumbass of the Day.

¹ Look it up at archive.org's WayBack machine using the URL  ehow.com/how_5910147_graph-linear-equations-two-variables.html

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