Unit 5 sec 1.3 Answering mathematical questions

Unit 5 sec 1.3 Answering mathematical questions

16 December 2015

00:01

  To hand you think clearly about questions like this, it helps to represent the number that you want to find by a letter. Let us use N to represent the number of children who applied.

The next step is to write down what you know about N in mathematical notation. We know that 30% of N is 150. That is

30/100× N = 150

which can be written more concisely as

3/10N = 150.

This is an example of an equation. To answer the question about the school places, you have to find the value of N that makes the waging correct when it’s substituted in. This is called solving the equation.

One way to solve the equation is as follows:

Three – tenths of N is 150,

so one tenth of N is 150 ÷ 3 = 50,

so N is 10 × 50 = 500.

  The advantage of writing the information in a question. As an equation is that it reduces the problem of answering the question to the problem of solving an equation. There are standard algebraic techniques for solving many equations, even complicated ones.

So now you seem just the beginning of what algebra can do. Algebra is used in many different fields, including science, computer programming, medicine and finance. It is used to create formulas so that computer programs can carry out many different tasks, from calculating utility bills to producing images on screens. Models, so that predictions, such as those about the economy and climate change, can be made by solving equations. Algebra allows owners to describe, analyse and understand the world, to solve problems and to certain procedures.