Missing TermsDate: Mon, 19 Dec 1994 18:43:30 AST From: Richard Seguin Hello again. In our math book, we have a question like this: Find the missing terms: ?(?-3)=5w-15 <----- What I don't understand is how do you get the answer? And what is it looking exactly for? Date: Mon, 19 Dec 1994 18:08:24 +0000 From: Elizabeth Weber Hello! This is a funny sort of problem. What makes it so confusing is that there are two '?'s, which stand for two different things. Let's make the problem a little more clear: let's call ?(?-3) 'a(b-3)'. When we multiply ?(?-3) out, we're going to get something of the form ab-a*3. 5w-15, then, is of the form ab-a*3. Can you see what the values of a and b must be, now? -Elizabeth, a math doctor |
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