Posted by Denis Borris on October 27, 2002 at 03:36:32:
In Reply to: Re: Word problem posted by MathBard on October 27, 2002 at 01:26:08:
....peRIMeter: real cute, Sir Bard!
: 141=b+(1/3)b+(1/4)b+(3/8)b vo'ila it is no longer a story problem.
: However, it does have fractions. and for SOME unexplained reason 5 out of
: every 4 of my students struggle with fractions.
: I am yet to figure out why!! any help?
Well, this is the way yours truly likes to handle them divisions; "fraction" is a
synonym of "division" (in my dictionary anyway!).
BEFORE even looking at the problem, get and apply the LCM: 24
So we now have 8/24, 6/24 and 9/24
We also have 24/24 (for the 1b)
So we have (8+6+9+24)/24 = 47/24
So 47b / 24 = 141; 47b = 3384; b = 72 : as you say, vo'ila (which should be voila!)
Tu est bienvenu, Monsieur poete de mathematiques.