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: