Tuesday, December 20, 2016

! #@$%&#@#

Ever wonder what that...

or...

                                                                                                                                                                                  

           
               
                                                           X

...key is for on your calculator? Well...

That's your gold plated 
short cut to solving those "arrangement"-type questions. 

You know (and love) the ones - "You have one red, one green, one blue and one yellow circle. How many ways can you arrange these 4 circles?"

So you might set out to make a grid or chart, starting with red. 
1)
2)
3) 

etc., etc., until your crayons and patience are worn out.

Or you could just enter 4 on your calculator and then press the factorial (x!) key (you might have to press shift first, depending on your calculator.) Bang. Done. Work smart, not hard.

Thursday, November 17, 2016



This is a modification from an earlier post. I realised there might be a few Heavy Metal fans out there...fans of the band MUAADON.

"3 out of 4" Questions - Rate and Proportion

Look or sound familiar? 



"A 10 metre flag pole casts a shadow of 6 metres. A 12 metre pole would cast a shadow that is ______ metres in length."



"A motorcyclist rides 125 miles in 3 hours. At this rate, how much distance will be covered in 5 hours?"



A factory produces 3000 widgets every 45 minutes. How many widgets will be produced in 7 hours?


These questions, I like to call, are "3 out of 4" questions. You are given 3 numbers and you need to find the 4th. How to solve? Make yourself a 4-way relationship box. 


Let's look at question 1 again. 

"A 10 metre flag pole casts a shadow of 6 metres. A 12 metre pole would cast a shadow that is ______ metres in length."

Your two "measurements" are height (H) and shadow length (SL).

H           SL
10            6
12            ?

Remember MUAADON - Multiply Up And AcrossDivide by the Other Number.

12 x 6 = 72
72/10 = 7.2

You could have set your box up another way.

H      10    12
SL     6      ?

6 x 12 = 72
72/10 = 7.2

Same answer...


Tricks to watch out for!

In question 3, the two "measurements" are time and widgets. However, the first "time" is in minutes and the second one is in hours. You need to either convert the 45 minutes to .75 hours, or convert the 7 hours to 420 minutes. Then set up your box, remember MUAADON, and get yourself the right answer. Rock on!