really need help on college work

[ShyBambi]

okay i'm sorry to be asking for help again but i'm really really paniking here and i'm getting dizzy college ends today at 12:30pm and today is our last day and i have to finish this assignment before i leave i cant stay longer because ihave a hospital appointment.

i cant do algebra or areas of shapes i just cant i told the tutor this and he just shrugged and walked off he didnt even bother to explain abit of it to me if he would have done that then maybe i would have understood a little but he didnt i know this is a stupid thing to get worked up about but i really need to get this done by today.

there are about 80 questions and i need to get them all rigt to pass.

i'm not going to ask for help on all of them becaus ei know thats selfish of me and taking up your time but can someone help me on some of the really hard ones please?

but i dunno how to do the half sign on here so i'll just type it out if thats okay...

1st one i have to solve this:
2(x + 3) = 5(2x + 6)

and 5(3x +2) - 2(3 - 2x) = 15 + 4(x + 4)

and then there are really hard ones where i have to re-agrange these:

x + 1 = y + 3 (with x the subject)

v = _1_ x (squared) h (with h the subject)
3 (this 3 is supposed to be under the 1 but for some reason it keeps moving to the side of the page...)

i'd really apreciate it if someone could help me out with these

thankies muchly

[ShyBambi]

okay well thanks anyway... :(

[Sarika]

Sorry no one could help you in time, if it's any benefit, here's what I got.
1) 2(x + 3) = 5(2x + 6)
2x + 6 = 10x + 30
6 = 8x + 30
-24 = 8x
-3=x

2) 5(3x +2) - 2(3 - 2x) = 15 + 4(x + 4)
15x + 10 -6 + 4x=15 + 4x +16
19x - 4 = 31 + 4x
19x = 35 + 4x
15x = 35
x= 2(1/3) OR 2.33

3) x + 1 = y + 3
x = y + 2
y = x - 2

4) v=(1/3)x²h
3v=x²h
3v/x²=h

P.S. If anyone sees something wrong with these, correct me. Also, I hope you did alright and passed ☺

[Beatrix]

Sorry I couldn't get to this in time to help; I hope it all worked out ok.

It sounds like you really struggle with math. I can relate; I'm a language and humanities person through and through. However, I did also have to take math all the way through high school, so I had to learn a few tricks to make things easier. Know that you have these up your sleeve really helps, because this is very much a confidence issue. No one is 100% incapable of doing math; anyone can do it, it's just that it comes easier to some people, and the rest of us need a clearer explanation and a way to break down all of the steps. Perhaps you disagree with me, but you're talking to someone who played the 'I can't" card for twelve years of math classes, until one day I realized that, with equations broken down into clear step, I COULD do it, and was in fact doing it quite well.

Have any of your tutors or teachers given you hints or tricks? If not, I'll pass on a few that I know.

With equations like the first one you listed, think of the word 'bedmas'. I know it's not an actual word, but it's a way to help you remember how to do these type of equations, specifically in what order you should do each bit to get the right answer. The letters stand for the following:

B = brackets
E = exponents
D = division
M = multiplication (division and multiplication are done in the order in which they appear)
A = addition
S = subtraction (like the last two, these are done in the order in which they appear.)

I'm sure it sounds silly, but this is exactly how I learned to do these types of equations, and I went from a 58 to a 77 over four years of high school math.

Areas of shapes can seem tricky, but it's all about taking the formula for the area of a particular shape, and then putting in all of the information you know. If you think of it as just applying number to a formula, it gets less scary.

For example, the formula for the area of a triangle is base (b) multiplied by height (h) divided by two. (b x h / 2) Imagine you have a triangle that is 5cm high with a base of 6cm. So b = 6 and h = 5.

b x h / 2
= 6 x 5 / 2

Here is where you can apply some of BEDMAS - doing the division and multiplication in the order in which they appear. So, since it comes first, you do the multiplication part first:

b x h / 2
= 6 x 5 / 2
= 30 / 2

I sometimes will put in brackets to make things easier:
b x h / 2
= (6 x 5) / 2
= 30 / 2

Then do the division, and you have 15, so the area of the triangle is 15cm squared:

A = b x h / 2
= 6 x 5 / 2
= 30 / 2
=15
A = 15cm squared

I hope some of that helped, and I hope you persist in asking your tutors and teachers for extra assistance, tips and tricks. You seem like a smart, capable person who's just a little overwhelmed and confused, and I *know* you can do this. Good luck and take care.

[StealthMasterCut]

Actually Sharika #2 is:

2) 5(3x +2) - 2(3 - 2x) = 15 + 4(x + 4)
15x + 10 -6 + 4x=15 + 4x +16
19x - 4 = 31 + 4x
19x = 35 + 4x
15x = 35
x= 2(1/3) OR 2.33


You did the work correctly but forgot to bring down the + 10.

@ Varjoissa: Next time, try www.math.com or www.about.com (and go to homework help). I get some sample problems for my students from there. Hope you did okay.

[Sarika]

my bad, sorry for the typo.