Tutor MathsGuru: Ask me for your burning Maths questions!

[atutor2001]

ADoc:

hi members, these are just for fun: what do these statements mean to you?

[1] The fraction of boys who did not take part in the competition is...
[2] Of those who did not take part in the competition, the fraction of boys is...

[3] I love you only
[4] Only I love you
[5] I only love you
[6] I love only you

Hi ADoc

[1] means (No. of boys who did not take part)/(Total no. of boys)

[2] means (No. of boys who did not take part)/(Total no. of those who did not take part)
This is a good one. Becomes clearer if we rephrase as \"Out of those who did not take part in the competition, the fraction of boys is...\"

[3] The only person that \"I\" love is \"you\"
or The only reason that \"I\" am with \"you\" is love, nothing else
(not a good sentence - ambiguous)

[4] The only person that love \"you' is \"I\"

[5] The only reason that \"I\" am with \"you\" is \"love\", nothing else
or The only person that \"I\" love is \"you\"
(not a good sentence - ambiguous)

[6] The only person that \"I\" love is \"you\"

Am I right? :?

[ADoc]

atutor2001:

ADoc:

hi members, these are just for fun: what do these statements mean to you?

[1] The fraction of boys who did not take part in the competition is...
[2] Of those who did not take part in the competition, the fraction of boys is...

[3] I love you only
[4] Only I love you
[5] I only love you
[6] I love only you

Hi ADoc

[1] means (No. of boys who did not take part)/(Total no. of boys)

[2] means (No. of boys who did not take part)/(Total no. of those who did not take part)
This is a good one. Becomes clearer if we rephrase as \"Out of those who did not take part in the competition, the fraction of boys is...\"

[3] The only person that \"I\" love is \"you\"
or The only reason that \"I\" am with \"you\" is love, nothing else
(not a good sentence - ambiguous)

[4] The only person that love \"you' is \"I\"

[5] The only reason that \"I\" am with \"you\" is \"love\", nothing else
or The only person that \"I\" love is \"you\"
(not a good sentence - ambiguous)

[6] The only person that \"I\" love is \"you\"

Am I right? :?

haha! cheers atutor2001!
I think you are right or at least you have made inferences regarding the placement of the word \"only\" using a \"well-accepted\" norm (if I correctly recall my primary english teacher's comments 2 decades ago).

The norm (after almost 200 yrs of debate!) for using the word \"only\" is to place it before the word/s or phrases one is trying to modify. In casual prose, we can rely on various emphases as we speak to convey our intended meaning, but there isn't anything, except placements, to rely on in writing.

Anyway, the examples are meant to illustrate that certain degree of ambiguity is always present (& tolerated, & even purposefully intended sometimes) in the english language or any other languages. That's why math is the only universal language! haha!

Hope you had fun going through the sentences.
cheers! :celebrate:

[iFruit]

pixiedust:

Please help me with this P5 question.

Ratio not covered yet so prefer solution without using ratio. Thanks


Nancy has 3 times as many buttons as Mary.
Every day, Mary uses 5 buttons and Nancy uses 4 buttons.
When Mary has finished using all her buttons, Nancy has 88 buttons left.
(1) How many days does Mary take to use all her buttons ?
(2) How many buttons are there altogether at first ?

Let Mary = 5u
Then Nancy = 15u

No. of days for Mary to exhaust her buttons = u

Nancy:
15u - 4u = 88---> u = 8 = no. of days

Total buttons = 20u = 160

HTH.

[pixiedust]

Thank you iFruit. You made it look so simple !

The solution is considered algebra method ?

[maggilim]

Hi all , i am very worried as my girl is in P5 and she seems to be veri \"slow\" in her maths. She had been to popular Tution center but still see no improvement. Any suggestions?

[ADoc]

maggilim:

Hi all , i am very worried as my girl is in P5 and she seems to be veri \"slow\" in her maths. She had been to popular Tution center but still see no improvement. Any suggestions?

Hi there! Since we don't know much about your kid, here're a number of generalisations for so-called slow-learners. No offence intended pls. You may wanna run thru these questions (non-exhaustive) before deciding your course of action. Pls know that these questions have nothing to do with intelligence at all. My nephew is a \"slow learner\". With these questions and the help of a doc, we concluded he has no learning disability whatsoever, other than the one incident whereby he was put down by his friends for not being able to answer a \"simple\" math question. He lost all confidence and didn't dare to even pen his workings until he \"confirmed\" his approach with an adult / teacher. It was quite a painful process and he needed lots of praise and positive reinforcements before he regained his confidence. phew!

1. does she have problems with other subjects such as english?
2. does she have a hearing or visual disability that you are not aware of?
3. does she have difficulty recognising numbers, especially those look-a-likes, i.e. 9 & 6, 1000, 100000?
4. does she have difficulty recognising \"obvious\" patterns of numbers and/or shades?
5. has she been ridiculed before in class by her mates or even math teachers?
6. is she an exceptionally shy person?
7. is she afraid to try working out the answers?
8. does she have any problem reciting 1-12 multiplication table?
9. is she an audio or visual person?
10. can she tell the difference between a very large number and a very small number?

cheers!

[iFruit]

pixiedust:

Thank you iFruit. You made it look so simple !

The solution is considered algebra method ?

Welcome pixiedust...in my books it IS algebra..

Regards.

[Muffins]

ADoc:

Muffins:

...

Total number of members who did not take part in the competition: 5ϰ + 12

Boys who did not take part: 3ϰ

(5ϰ+12) - 3ϰ = 2ϰ + 12

6 X 3 = 18

6 X 5 = 30

30 + 12 = 42

18/42 = 3/7

Hmm.... My working seems correct. However, you guys' answers are 3/10 though... any ideas or advice?

P.S.
Total number of boys in club = 24
Total number of girls in club = 36

Hi there! Your answer is using \"no. of club members who did not take part in the competition\" as the denominator, whereas previous answer/s used \"total club members\" = 60.
Oh well...as with my previous post, I'm of the opinion that the denominator should be \"no. of club members who did not take part in the competition\" too.

cheers!


hi members, these are just for fun: what do these statements mean to you?

[1] The fraction of boys who did not take part in the competition is...
[2] Of those who did not take part in the competition, the fraction of boys is...

[3] I love you only
[4] Only I love you
[5] I only love you
[6] I love only you

But didn't the question ask for that????

Am still not sure whether i am correct... :faint:

[Bunny27]

Hi, pls help me with these questions:


1. Luke and Isaac had $95 at first. After they each spent an equal amount of money, Luke had four times as much money as Isaac. How much money did each of them spend?

2. The ratio of the number of red marbles to the number of blue marbles on a box was 7:4. When 10 red marbles were replaced by 10 blue marbles, the ratio of the number of red marbles to the number of blue marbles became 1:2. How many red marbles were there at first?

3. The ratio of John’s age to Ryan’s age is 3:1 now. 25 years later, the ratio will become 4:3. How old is John now?

4. The ratio of the number of 20-cent coins to the number of 50-cent coins to the number of $1 coins in a bag is 2:6:7. If the total amount if money in the bag is $156, how many coins are there altogether?

Thanks

[Bunny27]

Hi, pls help me with these questions:


Hi, pls help me with these questions:

1. Luke and Isaac had $95 at first. After they each spent an equal amount of money, Luke had four times as much money as Isaac. How much money did each of them spend?

2. The ratio of the number of red marbles to the number of blue marbles on a box was 7:4. When 10 red marbles were replaced by 10 blue marbles, the ratio of the number of red marbles to the number of blue marbles became 1:2. How many red marbles were there at first?

3. The ratio of John's age to Ryan's age is 3:1 now. 25 years later, the ratio will become 4:3. How old is John now?

4. The ratio of the number of 20-cent coins to the number of 50-cent coins to the number of $1 coins in a bag is 2:6:7. If the total amount if money in the bag is $156, how many coins are there altogether?

Thanks

:welcome:

Dear Parents,

Are you frustrated/stuck when helping your child solve his/her Maths questions? Are you inclined to use Algebra most of the time? Do you have difficulty trying to use diagrams or other heuristic methods (that Primary School students learn) to solve?

:idea: Post your questions here and see how MathsGuru solve them to the best of her ability. Detailed solutions will be posted back in this thread.

So start asking and watch this space!!

Cheers :celebrate: ,
MathsGuru

P/S (Disclaimer, in case you're wondering...):
Although MathsGuru is a full-time Maths tutor, this thread is meant to be an absolutely free resource for parents (or even children) with no strings attached. Just someone who's passionate about Maths and wanna spread the fun in learning Maths with others. :D[/quote]