[Closed] I'm thick... kids maths help please

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Common denominator is your friend ..

A/B + C/D = ( A*D + C* B ) / ( B * D)

I think, tis a long time since I did such algebra 😥

You want to get the two fractions to have the same denominator. In this case you can do this by multiplying both the numerator and the denominator of the first fraction by 6. Then you can add the numerators together.

Like 3/4 + 1/8 = (2*3)/(2*4) + 1/8 = 6/8 + 1/8 = 7/8

a/b + c/d = (a*d + b*c)/(b*d)

comic sans font.

Gah!

In this case you can do this by multiplying both the numerator and the denominator of the first fraction by 6

I think (hard to see on my phone) that the denominator on the first fraction is 5ca²

The second is 30ca³

So you need to multiply the top and bottom of the left fraction by 6a

i make it

7 * a^2 * b^2 * ( 24 * a * d + 1)/(30 * c * d ^3)

though i'm abit rusty at this sort of thing 🙂

Hmm. I got...

(168 * a^3 * b^2 * d + 7 * a^2 * b^2) / 30 * c * d^3

Curious - What age is this for?

Is the denominator ca or cd?

I got:

a²b²(7+168ad)/30cd³

year 10

cd not ca

Oh and the first fraction is being divided by the second. 🙁

7 goes into 168 24 times btw 😀

7a²b²(1+24ad)/30cd³

Is that better?

we got that bit Klunky..... but what about the letters? I reckon the top line is 24a....

using the formula for adding 2 fractions

a/b + c/d = (a*d + b*c)/(b*d)

gives

840 * a^3 * b^2 * c * d^3 + 35 * a^2 * b^2 * c * d^2
_____________________________________________________
150 * c^2 * d^5

divide top and bottom by c , d^2 and 5 gives

168 * a^3 * b^2 * d + 7 * a^2 * b^2
___________________________________
30 * c * d^3

the top reduces to... (168 * a^3 * b^2 * d) = (7 * a^2 * b^2) * ( 24 * a * d)

7 * a^2 * b^2 * ( 24 * a * d + 1)
__________________________________
30 * c * d^3

It's amazing how much you forget. I did a-level maths but then spent the last 20 ish years in the bike trade and ive spent ages tryning remember

using the formula for adding 2 fractions

If that's a divide symbol, then the answer is 24ad.

To divide by a fraction, you invert it (take the reciprocal) and then multiply.

You would then get 840a³b²cd³ / 35a²b²cd², which simplifies to the above.

MUCH easier if its divide

( A / B ) / ( C / D ) = ( A / B ) * ( D / C ) = ( A * D ) / ( B * C )

If that's a divide symbol, then the answer is 24ad.

post a better image next time 😀

WHAT?!!! That's what I [really really actually] thought it was!

Absolute total bollix 🙂

I did honest Miss!

Thanks guys... think I learnt something there - that I do hate maths!

Edit: We've decided we still don't get it so there's some work to be done!

Dividing by a fraction is (as said above) the same as multiplying by the reciprocal, so turn the second fraction upside down and multiply!

You can then cross out anything that appears on the top and the bottom:

All the bs cancel, so do all the cs: you're left and a and a d! For the numbers you're left with 28x30 divided by 5x7, so 24.

As above, 24ad ftw!

I get the same answer as sockpuppet,

24ad

cross multiply

comic sans font.

Gah!

It is often used in education as it is more dyslexia-friendly...

[url= https://www.dyslexic.com/fonts/ ][i]Many dyslexic people also find it easier to read a font that looks similar to hand writing as they are familiar with this style[/i][/url]

for b,c ? 0

I think we're all missing the big picture here*, which is, have you used a phone to take a screenshot of a PC, which has a keyboard with a dedicated "print screen" button on it?

(* - literally)

with a dedicated "print screen" button

Unless they (nasty Microsoft) have changed it recently, don't you then have to figure our a way of then 'saving' the captured image?

PrtSc sends the image to the clipboard. You can then paste straight into imgur without needing to save anything anywhere locally (as I was delighted to discover by accident the other day). Or dump it into Paint and crop / save it if you want.

Windows 10 also has the [url= https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/671b2932-1274-452a-905b-f7ed3c7d8818/open-snipping-tool-and-take-a-screenshot ]Snipping Tool[/url] which is essentially what you describe (only better).

Seems it's in W7 too, I've just checked on this machine here. Win-S is the hotkey. (It might be part of OneNote though... ?)

So you do still need to paste the file and save it in another programme?

Was your kid's problem with division of fractions or with the algebra?

For division of fractions: [b]Keep[/b] the first fraction, [b]change[/b] the sign to a multiply, [b]flip[/b] the second fraction. [b]Keep[/b], [b]change[/b], [b]flip[/b].

So you do still need to paste the file and save it in another programme?

Snipping Tool lets you save the area of screen selected as an image file.

I believe Win-PrtSc saves an image directly to the Pictures folder in later versions of Windows too (from W8 onwards).

Is the answer:

24ad?

Just checked the rest of the thread and it appears I got it right.

Quite pleased with that, did it completely in my head.

Cougar... yes I did. She was still doing still on the PC and i didn't want to disturb her.

Was your kid's problem with division of fractions or with the algebra?

For division of fractions: Keep the first fraction, change the sign to a multiply, flip the second fraction. Keep, change, flip.

Took me five goes to pass my maths O level - my housemaster was so happy when I finally passed that he gave me £5 (lot of money back then) to go to the school bar (yes, our school had its own pub!) 🙂

[i]It's amazing how much you [s]forget[/s][/i] are taught at school that's NEVER NEEDED FOR ANYTHING ELSE BUT SCHOOL MATHS![i]. I did a-level maths but then spent the last 20 ish years in the bike trade and ive spent ages tryning remember[/i]

It's amazing how much you forget are taught at school that's NEVER NEEDED FOR ANYTHING ELSE BUT SCHOOL MATHS!

... and appearing to be clever on a mountain biking forum. (-:

Dividing one fraction by another is quite useful, no?

I use the maths that I was taught at school all the time.

It's amazing how much you forget are taught at school that's NEVER NEEDED FOR ANYTHING ELSE BUT SCHOOL MATHS!. I did a-level maths but then spent the last 20 ish years in the bike trade and ive spent ages tryning remember

It always amazes me that statements like that are made about Maths, but never about English or pretty much any other subject. I did Higher English and I've never had to write a criticism of a play, novel or poem since then. In fact I don't think I've even read a poem since I left school. It doesn't mean that I think that the time I spent in school doing it was wasted.

Yeah, when I've got half an ounce and want to know how many eighths that is, fractional division is indeed useful.

To be honest I do think the time I spent reading poetry was wasted. That, and latin. A surprisingly large proportion of the rest has come in handy one way or another though.

I do think the time I spent reading poetry was wasted

This makes me as sad as the other thread where someone said they'd got to 45 years old without ever going to an art gallery.

There's more to life and education than preparing yourself for a career.

Yeah, you could say that about any subject that you don't decide to use as a career. As an occasional coder I find maths very useful. But great swathes of my education are largely useless day-to-day. History for example; "having knowledge" is obviously a good thing, but my life wouldn't have been ruined by not knowing who won a war in the middle ages. It's not like I can do anything to change the outcome. Or RE, the only use I've got for that is a) realising it's all fairy stories and b) arguing on STW. Chemistry; moles, valences, atomic weights, who cares beyond chemists?

But that's the point though isn't it. Without teaching everyone science (say), a handful of them would never go on to become scientists.

[i]but never about English ..[/i]

Course English is useful in later life. Speshly now what we haff internet forum's to show off how mush we learnded an that.
(Ps. I read loadsa book an all)

Ps. I was really kinda paraphrasing my kid complaining about Spanish and RE classes.

Yeah, when I've got half an ounce and want to know how many eighths that is, fractional division is indeed useful.

A skill only useful to drug dealers and Americans these days, I'd have thought?

Oh I've done my fair share of reading and enjoy various other arty things a bit. Just never got much out of poetry. Not saying it's a bad idea in general, I wouldn't know I didn't care for it if I hadn't tried!

[i]Just never got much out of poetry[/i]

Me neither. (How annoying are those Nationwide adverts?!)

The sum total of what I learned and I can still remember from school can be summed up in:

[b]Meandering rivers cause ox-bow lakes.[/b]

The sum total of what I learned and I can still remember from school can be summed up in:

Meandering rivers cause ox-bow lakes.

Did you learn to read and write after leaving school?

Did you learn to read and write after leaving school?

And I wouldn't know (then or now) where to start with the OP's maths question.

Cougar - Moderator
But great swathes of my education are largely useless day-to-day.

What a sad thing to read. I hope you didn't pay (directly) for any of it.

History for example; "having knowledge" is obviously a good thing, but my life wouldn't have been ruined by not knowing who won a war in the middle ages.

As a hirer of lots of history graduates (for good reason, and in the past) and with mini THM reading history know, I am glad that history is nothing like what is implied in that comment

Or RE, the only use I've got for that is a) realising it's all fairy stories

Bravo Sir

[i]but my life wouldn't have been ruined by not knowing who won a war in the middle ages.[/i]

Be crap at Eggheads though

I admit I worked hard at school, and learned quite a lot of maths over the years, and it suits my strengths, but...

I use mental arithmetic dozens of times a day in my work, in safety critical siuations. Speed and accuracy being important.

I use algebra regularly to solve everyday problems, because once the scenario is recast as an equation the result can easily be calculated and might be a surprise, something you might not come to with gut feeling or intuition, or experience. Although, admittedly while true, often not practical. The biggest skill I learned was how to extract the equation from the question!

I often find those who claim they never needed maths since school are simply those with no interest in the help that maths could give them!

[i] often find those who claim they never needed maths since school are simply those with no interest in the help that maths could give them![/i]

I don't even know what that means!