Liberal Arts Mathmatics

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course Mth 151

If your solution to stated problem does not match the given solution, you should self-critique per instructions at

http://vhcc2.vhcc.edu/dsmith/geninfo/labrynth_created_fall_05/levl1_22/levl2_81/file3_259.htm

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Your solution, attempt at solution. If you are unable to attempt a solution, give a phrase-by-phrase interpretation of the problem along with a statement of what you do or do not understand about it. This response should be given, based on the work you did in completing the assignment, before you look at the given solution.

004. Liberal Arts Mathematics

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Question: `q001. Consider the statement 'If that group of six-year-olds doesn't have adult supervision, they won't act in an orderly manner.' Under which of the following circumstances would everyone have to agree that the statement is false?

The group does have supervision and they do act in an orderly manner.

The group doesn't have supervision and they don't act in an orderly manner.

The group doesn't have supervision and they do act in an orderly manner.

The group does have supervision and they don't act in an orderly manner.

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Your solution:

False: The group does have supervision and they don't act in an orderly manner. This is saying that when the parents are around the kids are out of control.

confidence rating #$&*: 3

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Given Solution:

`aThe statement says that if the group doesn't have supervision, they will not act in an orderly manner. So if they don't have supervision and yet do act in an orderlymanner the statement is contradicted.

If the group does have supervision, the statement cannot be contradicted because condition of the statement, that the group doesn't have supervision, does not hold.The statement has nothing to say about what happens if the group does have supervision.

Of course if the group doesn't have supervision and doesn't act in orderly manner this is completely consistent with the statement.

Therefore the only way to statement can be considered false is the group doesn't have supervision and does act in an overly manner.

Note that what we know, or think we know, about childrens' behavior has nothing at all to do with the logic of the situation. We could analyze the logic of a statement like 'If the Moon is made of green cheese then most six-year-olds prefer collard greens to chocolate ice cream'. Anything we know about the composition of the Moon or the tastes of children has nothing to do with the fact that the only way this statement could be shown false would be for the Moon to be made of green cheese and most six-year-olds to prefer the ice cream.

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Self-critique (if necessary): OK

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Self-critique Rating: 3

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Question: `q002. List the different orders in which the letters a, b and c could be arranged (examples are 'acb' and 'cba'). Explain how you know that your list contains every possible order.

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Your solution:

List: abc, acb, bca, bac, cab, cba

This can be the only possible list that contains every way for ‘a’, ‘b’, and ‘c’ because if you try to create any more, you would be repeating yourself. Another way to look as it is if you have 3 letters then the first way gives you 3 possibilites. After that you are left with 2 letters, giving you only 2 more options. Then you have 1 possibility left which gives you just one. When you add them together [ 3 + 2 + 1 ] = 6 possible ways you can do it.

confidence rating #$&*: 3

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Given Solution:

`aThe only reliable way to get all possible orders is to have a system which we are sure the list every order without missing any.

Perhaps the simplest way to construct all possible orders is to list then alphabetically.

We start with abc. There is only one other order that starts with a, and it is obtained by switching the last two letters to get acb.

The next alphabetical order must start with b. The first possible listing starting with b must follow b with a, leaving c for last. The orders therefore bac. The only other order starting with b is bca.

The next order must start with c, which will be followed by a to give us cab. The next order is obtained by switching the last two letters to get cba.

This exhausts all possibilities for combinations of the three letters a, b and c. Our combinations are, in alphabetical order,

abc, acb, bac, bca, cab, cba.

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Self-critique (if necessary): ok

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Self-critique Rating:

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Question: `q003. One collection consists of the letters a, c, d and f. Another collection consists of the letters a, b, d and g.

List the letters common to both collections.

List the letters which appear in at least one of the collections.

List the letters in the first half of the alphabet which do not appear in either of the collections.

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Your solution:

Both in common:

A, d

Letters that appear once:

B, c, f, g

First Half of the alphabet:

e h I j k l m

Stragity: start with the first half of the alphabet: [a b c d e f g h I j k l m]. cross off the letters as you are going through the group. This eliminates majority of them. Also pay attention to the ones that appear twice. Then you are left with the ones that are not in either group

confidence rating #$&*: 3

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Given Solution:

`aTo letters a and d each appear in both collections. No other letter does.

The letters a, c, d, and f appear in the first collection, so they all in at least one of the collections. In addition to letters b and g appear in the second collection.Therefore letters a, b, c, d, f and g all appear in at least one of the collections.

We consider the letters in the first half of the alphabet, in alphabetical order. a, b, c and d all appear in at least one of the collections, but the letter e does not. The letters f and g also appear in at least one of the collections, but none of the other letters of the alphabet do. The first half of the alphabet ends at m, so the list of letters in the first half of the alphabet which do not occur in at least one of the collections is e, h, i, j, k, l, m.

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Self-critique (if necessary): this is pretty self explanatory

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Self-critique Rating:

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Question: `q004. Give the next element in each of the following patterns and explain how you obtained each:

2, 3, 5, 8, 12, ...

3, 6, 12, 24, ...

1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, ...

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Your solution:

2, 3, 5, 8, 12, ... the next one for this group would be 17.

To get this answer, you can notice a pattern. The pattern is that they are always adding 1 more each time. 2 + 1 gives you 3. 3 + 2 gives you 5. 5 + 3 gives you 8. 8 + 4 gives you 12. 12 + 5 gives you 17.

3, 6, 12, 24, ... the next one for this group would be 48.

To get this answer, you can notice a pattern. The pattern is that they are always doubling the figure by itself to next the next result. 3 + 3 gives you 6. 6 + 6 gives you 12. 12 + 12 gives you 24. 24 + 24 gives you 48.

1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, ... the next one for this group will be 29.

To get this answer, you add the next number to the previous number. 1 + 3 gives you 4. 3 + 4 gives you 7. 7 + 4 gives you 11. 7 + 11 gives you 18. 11 + 18 gives you 29.

confidence rating #$&*: 3

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Given Solution:

`aThe pattern of the sequence 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, ... can be seen by subtracting each number from its successor. 3-2 = 1, 5-3 = 2, 8-5 = 3, 12-8 = 4. The sequence of differences is therefore 1, 2, 3, 4, ... . The next difference will be 5, indicating that the next number must be 12 + 5 = 17.

The pattern of the sequence 3, 6, 12, 24, ... can be discovered by dividing each number into its successor. We obtain 6/3 = 2, 12/6 = 2, 24/12 = 2. This shows us that we are doubling each number to get the next. It follows that the next number in the sequence will be the double of 24, or 48.

The pattern of the sequence 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 18, ... is a little obvious. Starting with the third number in the sequence, each number is the sum of the two numbers proceeding. That is, 1 + 3 = 4, 3 + 4 = 7, 4 + 7 = 11, and 7 + 11 = 18. It follows that the next member should be 11 + 18 = 29.

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Self-critique (if necessary): I found the most difficult one to be the 3rd group. I didn’t see that it was adding the previous one at first until I tried it several times.

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Self-critique Rating: 3

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Question: `q005. The number 18 can be 'broken down' into the product 9 * 2, which can then be broken down into the product 3 * 3 * 2, which cannot be broken down any further . Alternatively 18 could be broken down into 6 * 3, which can then be broken down into 2 * 3 * 3.

Show how the numbers 28 and 34 can be broken down until they can't be broken down any further.

Show that there at least two different ways to break down 28, but that when the breakdown is complete both ways end up giving you the same numbers.

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Your solution:

28 =

2 * 14 2 cannot go any further. 14 can be broken down to 7 * 2

2 * 2 * 7

OR

28 =

4 * 7 4 can be broken down to 2 * 2

2 * 2 * 7

34 =

2 * 7 2 cannot go any further. 7 cannot go any further

confidence rating #$&*: 3

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Given Solution:

`aA good system is to begin by attempting to divide the smallest possible number into the given number. In the case of 34 we see that the number can be divided by 2 give 34 = 2 * 17. It is clear that the factor 2 cannot be further broken down, and is easy to see that 17 cannot be further broken down. So the complete breakdown of 34 is 2 * 17.

To breakdown 28 we can again divide by 2 to get 28 = 2 * 14. The number 2 cannot be further broken down, but 14 can be divided by 2 to give 14 = 2 * 7, which cannot be further broken down. Thus we have 28 = 2 * 2 * 7.

The number 28 could also the broken down initially into 4 * 7. The 4 can be further broken down into 2 * 2, so again we get 28 = 2 * 2 * 7.

It turns out that the breakdown of a given number always ends up with exactly same numbers, no matter what the initial breakdown.

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Self-critique (if necessary): understand this completely

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Self-critique Rating:

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Question: `q006. Give the average of the numbers in the following list: 3, 4, 6, 6, 7, 7, 9. By how much does each number differ from the average?

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Your solution:

Average would mean add up the whole thing then divide by the number of things you added up. So this mean 3 + 4 + 6 + 6 + 7 + 7 + 9 = 42 / 7 = 6

3 differs from the average by 3

4 differs from the average by 2

6 differs from the average by 0

6 differs from the average by 0

7 differs from the average by 1

7 differs from the average by 1

9 differs from the average by 3

confidence rating #$&*: 3

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Given Solution:

`aTo average least 7 numbers we add them in divide by 7. We get a total of 3 + 4 + 6 + 6 + 7 + 7 + 9 = 42, which we then divide by 7 to get the average 42 / 7 = 6.

We see that 3 differs from the average of 6 by 3, 4 differs from the average of 6 by 2, 6 differs from the average of 6 by 0, 7 differs from the average of 6 by 1, and 9 differs from the average of 6 by 3.

A common error is to write the entire sequence of calculations on one line, as 3 + 4 + 6 + 6 + 7 + 7 + 9 = 42 / 7 = 6. This is a really terrible habit. The = sign indicates equality, and if one thing is equal to another, and this other today third thing, then the first thing must be equal to the third thing. This would mean that 3 + 4 + 6 + 6 + 7 + 7 + 9 would have to be equal to 6. This is clearly not the case. It is a serious error to use the = sign for anything but equality, and it should certainly not be used to indicate a sequence of calculations.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

**********CORRECTION AFTER GIVEN ANSWER***********

Average would mean add up the whole thing then divide by the number of things you added up. So this mean 3 + 4 + 6 + 6 + 7 + 7 + 9 and their sum is equal to 42. Then do 42 / 7 which equal 6

3 differs from the average by 3

4 differs from the average by 2

6 differs from the average by 0

6 differs from the average by 0

7 differs from the average by 1

7 differs from the average by 1

9 differs from the average by 3

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Self-critique Rating:3

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Question: `q007. Which of the following list of numbers is more spread out, 7, 8, 10, 10, 11, 13 or 894, 897, 902, 908, 910, 912? On what basis did you justify your answer?

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Your solution:

I would say the 894, 897, 902, 908, 910, 912 is the more spread out. I took 912 and subtracted it from the lowest, which is 894 and got 18. This would be the range for these set of numbers. For the other group I took 13 and subtracted 7 and got 6. This would also be the range for this set of numbers. 18 is a more spread apart number on the number line than 6 is so I believe that the 894, 897, 902, 908, 910, 912 set of numbers is the answer.

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`aThe first set of numbers ranges from 7 to 13, a difference of only 6. The second set ranges from 894 to 912, a difference of 18. So it appears pretty clear that the second set has more variation the first.

We might also look at the spacing between numbers, which in the first set is 1, 2, 0, 1, 2 and in the second set is 3, 5, 6, 2, 2. The spacing in the second set is clearly greater than the spacing in the first.

There are other more sophisticated measures of the spread of a distribution of numbers, which you may encounter in your course.

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Self-critique (if necessary): I was correct in my theory of how to answer the question

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Self-critique Rating: 3

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Question: `q008. 12 is 9 more than 3 and also 4 times 3. We therefore say that 12 differs from 3 by 9, and that the ratio of 12 to 3 is 4.

What is the ratio of 36 to 4 and by how much does 36 differ from 4?

If 288 is in the same ratio to a certain number as 36 is to 4, what is that number?

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Your solution:

36 differs from 4 by 32. To get this, just subtract 4 from 36 to get 32. 8

36 is 32 more than 4 and also 6 times 6.

I have no idea how to come up with the 288 solution

confidence rating #$&*: 2

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Given Solution:

`aJust as the ratio of 12 to 3 is 12 / 3 = 4, the ratio of 36 to 4 is 36 / 4 = 9. 36 differs from 4 by 36 - 4 = 32.

Since the ratio of 36 to 4 is 9, the number 288 will be in the same ratio to a number which is 1/9 as great, or 288 / 9 = 32.

Putting this another way, the question asks for a 'certain number', and 288 is in the same ratio to that number as 36 to 4. 36 is 9 times as great as 4, so 288 is 9 times as great as the desired number. The desired number is therefore 288/9 = 32.

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Self-critique (if necessary): I think this is oddly worded so students get confused on purpose to make us think more about the problem. I don’t really understand this problem at all. Even after looking at the solution this seems way to complicated and I am sure it is a very simple process

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Self-critique Rating:2

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Question: `q009. A triangle has sides 3, 4 and 5. Another triangle has the identical shape of the first but is larger. Its shorter sides are 12 and 16. What is the length of its longest side?

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Your solution:

The longest side is equal to 20. To figure out a triangle longest length you do A ^2 + B ^2 = C ^2. This would mean 12^2 + 16^2 = C^2. Square and add on the left side of the equation. This gives you 400. Then take the square root of 400 and that gives you C which is also the longest length of the triangle.

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

`a** You need to first see that that each side of the larger triangle is 4 times the length of the corresponding side of the smaller. This can be seen in many ways, one of the most reliable is to check out the short-side ratios, which are 12/3 = 4 and 16/4 = 4. Since we have a 4-to-1 ratio for each set of corresponding sides, the side of the larger triangle that corresponds to the side of length 5 is 4 * 5 = 20. **

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Self-critique (if necessary): the my solution makes more since to me than the given solution. The given just seems very complicated because it is incorporating fractions when it doesn’t seem like they are necessary.

@&

@& This is an artificially simple situation. Usually the numbers don't divide evenly, leaving you with fractions.

Any solution that didn't include the fractional expressions would be limited to the rare cases where the numbers do divide evenly, and would provide no insight into what to do when they don't.*@

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