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Home Page To 3 Rs To algebra
Presentation by Howard C. McAllister. Copyright 1996
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Problem: If Tom has three times as many apples as Susan
and Susan has one-fourth as many as Joe, who has 4, how many
does Mary have if Mary has two more than Tom?

(Use Mary's, Tom's Susan's and Joe's for the variables.)

The problem asks for the number of
apples Mary has. The problem states that
Mary has two more than Tom .

This equation requests information
about the number of apples Tom has.
The response to this request is in the
beginning of the problem statement.

The equation just written
requests information about Susan's.
The problem tells us that she has
one-fourth as many as Joe.

This equation requests Joe's.
The problem provides the response
to this request.

The result of substitution is

The result of doing the arithmetic is
Respond to what
is asked for
at each step.
Learn the ideas
used in solving this
problem well. The
same organization of
the solution is present
in all problems.


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Home Page To 3 Rs answer To algebra
A SureMath solution


If more or this type of exercise is useful to you
additonal ones can be added. Let me know by

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COPY and PASTE can be used to effect substitution reliably.
Copy the top equation and paste it in the substitution box.
Then copy the right side of each indented equation, starting with the first one, and paste them on the appropriate symbols in the substitution box.
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