10% Rule Part Deux - Using 1%

The 10% Rule RULES! Part Two

A quick review...

 

You can calculate any percentage using the 10% rule.

 

 

 

Example 1: What is 15% of 40?

 

 

Start by finding 10%.

 

To find 10%, think of 40 as 40.0

 

Move your decimal ONE place to the left and you have...

 

 

 

4.0  or 4

 

 

5% is half of 10%. Half of 4 is 2, so you need another

 

2

 

4 + 2 = 6

 

 

 

 

DONE! Work SMART not HARD

 

 

 

 

The 1% rule is just an extension of the 10% rule. 

 

 

Example 2: What is 16% of 40?

 

 

16% is just 10% plus 5 % plus 1%

 

 

 

Start by finding 10%.

 

To find 10%, think of 40 as 40.0

 

Move your decimal ONE place to the left and you have...

 

 

4.0  or 4

 

 

5% is half of 10%. Half of 4 is 2, so you need another

 

2

 

4 + 2 = 6

 

Now you just need that last 1%.

 

To find 1%, think of 40 as 40.0

 

Move your decimal TWO places to the left and you have...

 

 

.4

 

4 + 2 + .4 = 6.4

 

 

DONE! Work SMART not HARD

What's the Chance, Part Deux

A quick review...

The GED often features one or two probability questions.

You will PROBABLY get one. Or two. 

One way to look at these questions is to think...

The chances of one thing happening...

                           ...divided by all possible chances.

For example, what is the chance of spinning a "yellow" when you use the spinner below?

The chance of the "one" thing is 1. (There is one yellow section.)

The "all possible chances" is 4. (There are 4 sections.)

The chances of one thing happening...

                           ...divided by all possible chances is..

1/4. 

Or... 1 out of 4 or...

.25 or...

25%

(These are all equivalents.)

So... what if you have 2 spinners?

What are the chances of both spinners landing on a section with the word "yellow"?

The chance for the first spinner is ¼

The chance for the 2nd spinner is ⅕

You now need to multiply these fractions.

¼  x ⅕ = 1/20. 

(Remember, 1 x 1 = 1 and 4  x  5 = 20)

What are the chances of both spinners landing on a section with the word "yellow"? 

 1/20. 

Complementary? Supplementary?

My students often can't remember which angles are complementary and which ones are supplementary. I always tell them to think of a really cheap wedding, where the complementary (free) drinks are limited to 90. Complementary angles add up to 90 degrees. "C" for "cheap" and "c" for complementary. A "superb" wedding (supplementary) would offer 180 free drinks. supplementary angles add up to 180 degrees. "S" for "superb" and "s" for supplementary. Failing that, I tell them that "c" comes before "s" in the alphabet and 90 comes before 180.

complementary

supplementaryfrom ClipArt, etc.

Have a Nice Day!

Which one is the numerator and which one is the denominator? A common question, answered easily by "Have a Nice Day." N, D - Nice Day, Numerator, Denominator.

Positive and Negative Numbers

Here's a useful video to help with positive and negative numbers.

Positive and Negative Numbers Video

Dividing Fractions

The first dividing fractions video can be found here...  video

84 - You're never too old to get your GED

Graduate Harry Schildroth of Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada, pictured here with Liz Sandals, Ontario's Minister of Education. You'll find the complete

story here

"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 MUADO - Multiply Up and Across, Divide 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 MUADO, and get yourself the right answer.

Solving Triangle Questions That Don't Really Look Like Triangle Questions

The GED exam may well have one word question involving a hiker, a boat or an airplane travelling so far in one direction, turning then travelling so far in a second direction.


There may also be a question with a grid, where you are asked to find the distance between two given points.

Believe it or not, these are triangle questions.

Example. A hiker walks 3 km due south, then turns and walks 4 km due east. How far is the hiker from the starting point? (The boat and airplane questions are similarly worded.) You might be tempted to answer "7", which would be incorrect.

How to solve? Draw a picture. Of a right-angled triangle.

You now have a Pythagorean question, where you have the two short legs and you are looking for the hypotenuse (long side.) You may also recognise this as a 3/4/5 triangle, where the hypotenuse is 5. There's your answer - 5.

Multiplying Fractions - What if my answer is an "improper" fraction?

What is the easiest way to deal with an answer that is in the form of an improper fraction? As the video says, have a drink! Unsure what this means? Well...       

see here

"Area of a Triangle" Song

For a song explaining how to calculate the area of a triangle, press...
here

Mixed Drinks - Mixed Fractions

You would probably rather have a mixed drink than have to multiply mixed fractions. However, if you HAVE to multiply the fractions, try this video    It may help.

Mean, Mean and Mode Dance

Mean? Median? Mode? Which is which? See

here

for the answer to your question.

Slope of a Line

What is the mathematical formula behind the slope of any line?

See... here

Multiplying Fractions Part 3 - Cancellation

Multiplying Fractions Part 3 - Cancellation. Find the ....

Video Here

Multiplying Fractions Part 2

Press...

here

for the video for Multiplying Fractions Part 2

Multiplying Fractions Part 1

Press...

Here

for  the link to the video for Multiplying Fractions - Part1.

Fractions into Decimals Rap

If you are turning fractions into decimals, look...

Here

for the Fractions into Decimals Rap

GED Pep Talk Part 2

Pep Talk Part 2  This video will help GED students on the days of the exam. The small issues surrounding writing an exam can contribute to failure. If these issues are planned for, reduced or eliminated, success will be more likely.

GED Pep Talk Part 1

This video will help GED students on the days leading up to the exam, as well as on the days of the exam. Some times the small issues surrounding writing an exam can contribute to failure. If these issues are planned for, reduced or eliminated, success will be more likely.



GED Pep Talk - Part 1