Math in the

Modern World
 Polya’s 4-Step Process to Problem Solving:

Understand
Plan
Carry Out
Check
 Age Problem

If the problem involves a single person, then it is similar to an Integer Problem. Read the problem carefully to determine the relationship between
the numbers. This is shown in the examples involving a single person.

If the age problem involves the ages of two or more people then using a table would be a good idea. A table will help you to organize the
information and to write the equations. This is shown in the examples involving more than one person.

How to solve Age Problems Involving A Single Person?

Example:

Five years ago, John’s age was half of the age he will be in 8 years. How old is he now?

Solution:

Step 1: Let x be John’s age now. Look at the question and put the relevant expressions above it.

Step 2: Write out the equation.

Isolate variable x

Answer: John is now 18 years old.

Number Problem
Step 1: Understand the problem.

Make sure that you read the question carefully several times.

Since we are looking for a number, we will let

x = a number

Step 2: Devise a plan (translate).

Step 3: Carry out the plan (solve).

 *Remove ( ) by using dist. prop.

*Get all the x terms on one side

*Inv. of sub. 2 is add 2

Step 4: Look back (check and interpret).

If you take twice the difference of 6 and 1, that is the same as 4 more than 6, so this does check.

FINAL ANSWER: The number is 6.

Investment Problem
If you set up your investment word problems so everything is labeled and well-organized, they should all work out fairly easily. Just take your time and do things in an orderly fashion. I've done the
set-up (but not the complete solutions) for a few more examples:

 An investment of $3,000 is made at an annual simple interest rate of 5%. How much additional money must be invested at an annual simple interest rate
of 9%so that the total annual interest earned is7.5% of the total investment?

I P r t
first (3,000)(0.05) = 150 3,000 0.05 1
additional 0.09 x x 0.09 1
total (3,000 + x)(0.075) 3,000 + x 0.075 1
First I fill in the P, r, and t columns with the given values.
Then I multiply across the rows (from the right to the left) in order to fill in the I column.

Then add down the I column to get the equation 150 + 0.09 x = (3,000 + x)(0.075).

To find the solution, I would solve for the value of x.

Trigonometric Problem
 Solve \mathbf{\color{green}{\small{ 2 \cos^2(\mathit{x}) - \sqrt{3\,} \cos(\mathit{x}) = 0 }}}2cos2(x)−3cos(x)=0 on the interval 0° ≤ x < 360°
The left-hand side of this equation factors. I'm used to doing simple factoring like this:

2y2 + 3y = 0

y (2y + 3) = 0

...and then solving each of the factors. The same sort of thing works here. To solve the equation they've given me, I will start with the factoring:

\small{ 2 \cos^2(x) - \sqrt{3\,} \cos(x) = 0 }2cos2(x)−3cos(x)=0

\small{ \cos(x)\,\left(2 \cos(x) - \sqrt{3\,}\right) = 0 }cos(x)(2cos(x)−3)=0
\small{ \cos(x) = 0\quad\mathsf{ or }\quad 2 \cos(x) - \sqrt{3\,} = 0 }cos(x)=0or2cos(x)−3=0
\small{ \cos(x) = 0\quad\mathsf{ or }\quad \cos(x) = \dfrac{\sqrt{3\,}}{2} }cos(x)=0orcos(x)=23

I've done the algebra; that is, I've done the factoring and then I've solved each of the two factor-related equations. This created two trig equations. So now I can do the trig; namely,
solving those two resulting trigonometric equations, using what I've memorized about the cosine wave. From the first equation, I get:

cos(x) = 0:

x = 90°, 270°
From the second equation, I get:

\small{ 2 \cos(x) = \sqrt{3\,}: }2cos(x)=3:

x = 30°, 330°

Putting these the two solution sets together, I get the solution for the original equation as being:

x = 30°, 90°, 270°, 330°

Mixture Problem
Let x stand for the number of liters of 10%solution, and let y stand for the number of liters of 30% solution. (The labeling of variables is, in this case, very important, because "x"
and "y" are not at all suggestive of what they stand for. If we don't label, we won't be able to interpret our answer in the end.) For mixture problems, it is often very helpful to do a
grid:

liters sol'n percent acid total liters acid

10% sol'n x 0.10 0.10x
30% sol'n y 0.30 0.30y
mixture x + y = 10 0.15 (0.15)(10) = 1.5

Since x + y = 10, then x = 10 – y. Using this, we can substitute for x in our grid, and eliminate one of the variables: Copyright © Elizabeth Stapel 1999-2011 All Rights Reserved

liters sol'n percent acid liters acid

10% sol'n 10 – y 0.10 0.10(10 – y)
30% sol'n y 0.30 0.30y
mixture x + y = 10 0.15 (0.15)(10) = 1.5
When the problem is set up like this, you can usually use the last column to write your equation: The liters of acid from the 10% solution, plus the liters of acid in
the 30% solution, add up to the liters of acid in the 15% solution. Then:

0.10(10 – y) + 0.30y = 1.5

1 – 0.10y + 0.30y = 1.5
1 + 0.20y = 1.5
0.20y = 0.5
y = 0.5/0.20 = 2.5

Then we need 2.5 liters of the 30% solution, and x = 10 – y = 10 – 2.5 = 7.5 liters of the 10%solution. (If you think about it, this makes sense. Fifteen percent is closer
to 10% than to 30%, so we ought to need more 10% solution in our mix.)

Exponential Problem
A = Pert, where "A" is the ending amount of whatever you're dealing with (money, bacteria growing in a
Exponential word problems almost always work off the growth / decay formula,
petri dish, radioactive decay of an element highlighting your X-ray), "P" is the beginning amount of that same "whatever", "r" is the growth or decay rate, and "t" is time. The
above formula is related to the compound-interest formula, and represents the case of the interest being compounded "continuously".

Note that the variables may change from one problem to another, or from one context to another, but that the structure of the equation is always the same. For instance, all of the
following represent the same relationship:

A = Pert ...or... A = Pekt ...or... Q = Nekt ...or... Q = Q0ekt

...and so on and so forth. No matter the particular letters used, the green variable stands for the ending amount, the blue variable stands for the beginning amount, the red variable stands for the
growth or decay constant, and the purple variable stands for time. Get comfortable with this formula; you'll be seeing a lot of it.
  A biologist is researching a newly-discovered species of bacteria. At time t = 0 hours, he puts one hundred bacteria into what he has determined to be a
favorable growth medium. Six hours later, he measures 450 bacteria. Assuming exponential growth, what is the growth constant "k" for the bacteria?
(Round k to two decimal places.)
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For this exercise, the units on time t will be hours, because the growth is being measured in terms of hours. The beginning amount P is the amount at time t = 0, so, for this
problem, P = 100. The ending amount is A = 450 at t = 6. The only variable I don't have a value for is the growth constant k, which also happens to be what I'm looking for. So
I'll plug in all the known values, and then solve for the growth constant:

A = Pekt
450 = 100e6k
4.5 = e6k
ln(4.5) = 6k
ln(4.5)
/6 = k = 0.250679566129...

The growth constant is 0.25/hour.

Many math classes, math books, and math instructors leave off the units for the growth and decay rates. However, if you see this topic again in chemistry or physics, you will
probably be expected to use proper units ("growth-decay constant / time"), as I have displayed above. Note that the constant was positive, because it was a growth constant. If I
had come up with a negative answer, I would have known to check my work to find my error.
 Logarithmic Problem
Note that the base in both the exponential form of the equation and the logarithmic form of the equation is "b", but that the x and y switch sides when you switch between the two
equations. If you can remember this — that whatever had been the argument of the log becomes the "equals" and whatever had been the "equals" becomes the exponent in the
exponential, and vice versa — then you should not have too much trouble with solving log equations.

 Solve log2(8) = x.
I can solve this by converting the logarithmic statement into its equivalent exponential form, using The Relationship:

log2(8) = x

2x = 8

But 8 = 23, so I can equate powers of two:

2x = 23

x=3

Note that this could also have been solved by working directly from the definition of a logarithm.

What power, when put on "2", would give you an 8? The power 3, of course!

If you wanted to give yourself a lot of work, you could also do this one in your calculator, using the change-of-base formula:

log2(8) = ln(8) / ln(2)