ABSTRACT
Three acts that undoubtedly evoke grimaces from the general populace are sucking on a lemon, scratching a piece of chalk on a blackboard, and trying to solve a verbal problem using algebraic techniques. The most violent reaction very often comes from the last of these, owing to the fact that most people are, to a certain degree, mathphobic. When viewed with objectivity, however, algebra is revealed to be a logical power tool that can unravel seemingly complex and knotty situations.
