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In desperate need of some help!

Angus Cattle Shower

Well-known member
I need help with math. I'm failing with a 47. I try hard, do my homework every night, and I even pay attention in class, while others do nothing, joke around and they still pass, wether it be mercy marks or sheer luck. HOWEVER, I did have a talk with my teacher today. He said if I can keep my mark like this he wil lgive me mercy marks to pass me and keep me going. I told him to forget it. Thats not my mark. Even though I can't seem to pass on my own as it is, Im not going to with mercy marks-no way, no how.

Here's what I'm going to do... Can anyone help me with this? I really hate asking people to help, but now I need to. I want to do a good job, and I want to pass, I want to show everyone that I can do it without cheating.


Please, please, please, if you can help even the slightest bit, let me know!!

Thanks and God bless,

Alex
 

Kato

Well-known member
Both of my sons had the same problem. :shock: They were cruising around in the forties and fifties during the earlier part of their high school years.

We solved it by finding a tutor. She was a retired schoolteacher who was a real whiz. In fact, about one third of the students in the school went to her! (That doesn't say much for our local math teachers does it??? :roll: :roll: )

Do you know anyone close by who's a prospect for tutoring? Ask around, and you might be surprised.

It all turned out well for my boys. One is now a web designer and graphic artist, and the other is an electrical engineering technologist/electrician. (Math is a huge part of his career!)

Well worth the investment in a bit of after hours instruction!

Don't give up. The year is young and there's time to turn those marks around!
 

jigs

Well-known member
fighting the same thing with one of my boys, his head is every where but in his books! real tough time for me, because I was the same way.

just have to find a way to understand it.

it is not that you are dumb, or can not learn it....you just have not figured out HOW to grasp it yet...keep plugging away, it will come to you.


or try dating a girl who can do your homework!
 

SHAWN

Well-known member
First of all the more you stress about it the worse it will be. Slow down and ask a fellow peer for a little asstistance, preferably a hottie! thats what I did. good luck, Shawn
 

the_jersey_lilly_2000

Well-known member
My first suggestion is to ask the teacher for extra help. NOT mercy marks. That's not helping you at all. You need to learn this so that you can move on to the next grade and not continue havin problems. It's thier job to teach you. They have a free period for parent teacher conference.....if the teacher doesn't have someone scheduled to come in, ask if you can. If that doesn't fit in with your schedule, see if you can stay after school for thirty minutes or so. I know back when I was a freshman and had algebra, I was havin a terrible time. I asked to stay after school. Did that for 2 solid weeks. Then it was like a light went on and I went from failin to makin A's in that class. It's all a matter of figurin out the formula and understandin it. (Not that I can do any of it now tho LOL)

I've slept since then.
 

katrina

Well-known member
Angus............... Find someone to tutor you......... PM econ.... He has some connections.... :wink: Or my son will try and help he is a math geek. But a tutor would be the best.........
 

Goodpasture

Well-known member
ACS, I don't know what you are tying to accomplish. What kind of math are you taking? You have to understand the process and the fundamentals.

I understand where you are coming from. You not only want to pass on your own, you want to KNOW! And that is the key.

Share specific problems, and lets discuss what is needed in a solution. It will help you understand what is happening, and what you need to know.

The nice thing about math, is, that you don't have to know much of anything. You simply have to understand what you need to know, and how to get there.
 

Judith

Well-known member
Hey ACS if it makes ya feel any better I am a complete math retard! I was just one of those kids. I made it through college with a 3.89 GPA even with my math scores pulling me down. Get a tutor and start at the basics again chances are you missed a step somewhere along the road. Somehow math started to click after I turned 30 so there is hope :)
 

Faster horses

Well-known member
My grandson, 13 and in 7th grade just this weekend talked to me about his math. There is no way I could help him. It's not multiplication and division anymore, it's part algerbra and part Greek. He says the teachers don't even understand it, but at least they have the answers.

And I was good at math in school...I was the one that did the tutoring...
I'd be in deep do-do now, I'm thinking.

My question is, when will these kids USE this new math?
 

Judith

Well-known member
The new maths are used as foundation in construction and engineering. Computer based stuff too I guess. All I need to know is that 1 mommy horse and 1 daddy horse make 3 horses in my herd for the next spring ( hopefully) LOL anything else has been a waste of time
 

Angus Cattle Shower

Well-known member
Well, here's one question. I dont know what he calls it, me and the rest of the peopel at our table call it jibberish haha.

Question 8J)

Add each of the polynomials as indiciated.

* * <-- whatever is in the stars is an exponent... I dont know how to show them on the computer lol

9a-1/2y-4z
3/4y-1/4z-1/2a
z-3/2a+1/8y
____________


And if you wouldn't mind, let me know when the heck I'll ever be able to use this on the farm, eh?
lol



Thanks a million everyone!
 

Turkey Track Bar

Well-known member
Angus Cattle Shower said:
Well, here's one question. I dont know what he calls it, me and the rest of the peopel at our table call it jibberish haha.

Question 8J)

Add each of the polynomials as indiciated.

* * <-- whatever is in the stars is an exponent... I dont know how to show them on the computer lol

9a-1/2y-4z
3/4y-1/4z-1/2a
z-3/2a+1/8y
____________


And if you wouldn't mind, let me know when the heck I'll ever be able to use this on the farm, eh?
lol



Thanks a million everyone!

Hey kiddo...did you forget any exponents, or were there none?

The first thing you need to know is a polynomial (poly=many) is made of up of more than one monomial.

The monomial is each piece of the equation that has a + - x or / (division) sign around it. So in the first polynomial the monomials are: 9a and 1/2y and 4z

Other parts of the equation you should become familiar with are the coefficient (the number before the x, y, or z)

The variable is the letters, x, y, or z this is almost always what you are trying to solve for...

The exponent is the little number or letter above the variable.

OK, now that now that we have the basics, rearrange the equations with the variables in all the same order, generally alphabetical. (a's first, z's last) so your equations should look like this:

9a-1/2y-4z
-1/2a+3/4y-1/4z
-3/2a+1/8y+z

Now make all variable with the same/common demominator, then add and/or subtract.

18/2a-4/8y-16/4z
-1/2a+6/8y-1/4z
-3/2a+1/8y+4/4z
---------------------
=14/2a+3/8y-13/4z

=7a+3/8y-13/4z

Does this help Buddy?

I hope so!

How's the lump on your head? I hope everything turned out a-ok with that!

Cheers---

TTB :wink:
 

IL Rancher

Well-known member
Angus, you might be surprised when you end up using some of the Algebra you learned.. Half the time folks are using it and we don't even realize it.. Algebra was never a problem for me back in the day but Calculus/diffeq beat on me a bit in College.. Okay, not a bit but a lot.. As many have said it is just getting to the point that it clicks for you, I'd highly ecommend the tutor route, not a lot of fun but much better than the alternative of mercy marks (My teachers never had mercy on me, lol)
 

Turkey Track Bar

Well-known member
:oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:
Thanks guys...the real deal will be if I did well enough for Angus to understand. Teaching via writing isn't my forte in life (I'm great in math and science, horrid in writing...left brain/right brain deal I guess.)

Hey Angus, I forgot about the application part. You already use this a lot in everyday life, you just don't know it. That is the problem with teachers today, they don't relay how the basics they teach work in everyday life.

I tried to think up an example that you can related to, Angus. We'll see how we do...you know a steer can try and have poor results! :wink:

At your new job of cutting meat, a customer brings in three deer to be cut up and made into sausage. Along with these he brings in two hogs to be harvested. He wants to keep the loin and have it cut into chops, and have the rest mixed with the deer and made into the sausage. A simple equation could tell you how much of each ingredient you'll need. Because by the Grace of God, you won't have the exact amounts of each meat to make the correct blend.

x=pounds of deer meat
y=pounds of pork
z=amount of seasonings

=Deer sausage recipe
=1/2x + 5/8y + 1/100z^3 (where ^ is the symbol for exponent)

How much of each ingredient will you need? This is just a one line equation, but you could easily add the equations for italian sausage and jalapeno cheddar deer sticks, and find out the quantity of ingredients, in total you'll need.

So maybe the equations for the italian sausage and sticks look something like this...

=Italian sausage
=9/16x + 11/15y * 3/8z^3 (where * is the symbol for multiply, that way it isn't confused with x as a variable)

=Deer sticks
=23/24x + 1/16y + 2z

You would then use your polynomial, and addition to determine how much deer, pork and spices you'll need to make this customers order.

1/2x + 5/8y + 1/100z^3
9/16x + 11/15y * 3/8z^3
23/24x + 1/16y + 2z
-------------------------------
total amount of each ingredient you'll need!

***disclaimer, I just pulled these numbers out of the air, I have no idea if they would actually make sense in sausage recipes!

lazy ace uses these same types of formulas all the time when he applies chemicals/pesticides to fields when he's spraying. He uses them (probably unknowingly to him) to determine the amount of each component of the spray to use, i.e. amount of Round up, amount of water, and amount of water neutralizer.

I hope I've helped rather than confused Angus. If you're struggling, you need to get a good tutor, like others said, rather than the mercy grade. Other mathmatical concepts down the road will build upon these.

Good luck!

Cheers---

TTB :wink:
 
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