Yo, guyz an’ gals. Connie wrote in askin’ for advice about word problems:

I’m not bad in math except when it comes to word problems any advice?

Hey, the GED’s real big on word problems, so you gotta get the hang of them. Why’d they gotta have word problems? Cuz they ain’t so much int’rested if you can figure out 3x + 4 = 12 as if you can figure out how much you’ll save each month if you buy generic soda instead of regular soda. See what I mean? One’s a plain math problem, the other’s a word problem. You’ve gotta first figure out what math you need to use it! See, my math teacher told me, math’s like a tool box. You got all these different math tools, and they help you do different things. You gotta know when to use what tool, to solve the problem you got in front of you. So, a math word problem is like a real-life problem that you might use math to solve. Okay, okay, whatcha really wanna know is, how to solve ‘em?
continue reading "GED Math Word Problem Advice"

Hey, yo. Here’s a question by Tanya that Liz forwarded me from her blog:

Im about to take my math test,I am horrible in math.right now I am working on word probloms.How do I know if these word probloms are asking me to subtract,divide,multiply or add.please help.
continue reading "GED Math Word Problems…"

Yo, all. Here’s another word problem from Zaher…

Satix is at a flea market. She wants to get the most knives at the lowest price. But she also wants to get at least one of each. The prices of the knives are: $ 4.30, $12.80, $11.50, $7.30, $ 7.50. If she has $50 to spend how much will her change be?

This is a tough word problem, so you gotta think it through. Hey, it’s great practice. Cuz if you can think through this, thinkin’ through some other word problems’ll be E-Z. This is what I call a number sense problem, cuz there ain’t no real advanced math, just makin’ sense of it, bein’ logical about it, and doin’ some basic math.
continue reading "GED Math: Word Problem"

Hey, yo, all, probability is the sweetest part of math. Tells you how likely something is to happen. And here’s a probability question from Zaher:

If Rob flips 3 coins what is the chance that they will come up all tails?

The correct answer was : 1/8 , but it doesn’t make sense to me ! can you explain why it is 1/8 ?

First things first. To find the probability of ONE thing happening, you’ve got to figure out how many times the thing you’re asking about will happen, and put that over how many times anything will happen. Flipping a coin is pretty easy. It could come up heads, or it could come up tails. There are two possibilities, and one chance that it’ll come up tails one out of two.

Probability of tails on one coin flip = 1/2

That’s the total number of possibilities it’ll come up tails over the total number of possibilities, altogether. Got it?

Now, you’ve got to figure out, separately, the probability that it’ll come up tails EACH of the three times. That’s simple. They’re all the same. The chance is 1/2 that it’ll come up tails each time you flip the coin. So you got three 1-in-2 chances.

First try: 1/2

Second try: 1/2

Third try: 1/2

How do you figure out what the odds are of it coming up tails all three times? Multiply! Remember, to multiply fractions, multiply all the top numbers to get the top number and multiply all the bottom numbers to get the bottom number:

1/2 × 1/2 × 1/2 = 1/8

There’s 1/8 chance of it coming up tails three times in a row.

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com

Hey, all… Here’s a problem from Zaher that’s real good for thinkin’ skills:

If x= y-3 and y=z^2, what is x in terms of z?

That caret, that’s shorthand for “to the power of.” So I’m gonna state it:

x = y – 3

y=z²

What you want to get is x in terms of z. Well. This ain’t really too hard. It’s just figurin’ out how to make x equal to a bit of math with a z in it instead of a bit of math with a y in it. You know what x means in terms of y. It’s y – 3. And you know what y means in terms of z. The key is, with any type of algebra, if two things are equal, you can substitute one for the other. So, since z² is equal to y, you can put it into the first equation instead of y. So:

x = z² – 3

That’s all you need to do! That’s x in terms of z. You can’t really reduce it any, and it’s what the question asked for. It just asks you to understand that, if two things are equal, you can substitute one for the other.

For more information on the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

Here’s a problem that Lyndia sent in, since she was havin’ trouble with it:

3x = 7 – 4x

You wanna figure out what “x” is equal to The problem comes in when you have a number befo’ the x, and need to get all the “x”es on the same side. Think of it this way… you don’t just got one x, you got four x’s. So, you gotta move all 4 x’s to the other side. In other words, think of “4x” as all going together.
continue reading "GED Math: Algebra"

Hey, all. I know fractions is a big problem for the GED. Here’s another problem: word problems! The GED is full of ‘em. That’s cuz the GED wants to know if you can solve problems you might run across in life. I know word problems don’t always seem like real life, but they’re tryin’ to reflect everyday problems, you know. Stuff that might happen to you.
continue reading "GED Math: More Fractions… in Real Life Problems."

Hey, all. Michael’s studyin’ for his GED, an he sent me this question:

am having problem with Lesson-7 page 491 on A. on Add or subtract as Directed reduce to the lowest terms.Am trying to figure out the form to work the fractions. am stuck on this one. Michael

Okay, here’s the rule with adding and subtracting fractions. Let’s start with a problem:

5/12 + 2/5
continue reading "GED Math: Adding and Subtracting Fractions"

Hey, yo. Here’s a comment Jen sent over:

Hi Curtis,

I need some help with percent and ratio word problems. Unfortunately your previous explanations regarding word problems have been too complicated. Perhaps you could give more information on the basics, the formulas? I know I am not completely understanding these formulas. My knowledge in math is only the basic concepts, and I do not understand algebra yet.

While percents seem simple enough; I become lost when I try to solve word problems with them. I have been using the triangle method to work with percent problems. [The method shown in the GED book.]

1- Multiply when the problem gives you the whole and the percent.

2- Divide when the problem gives you the part and the percent.

3- Divide when the problem gives you the whole and the part.

However, I am still finding word problems with percents and ratios very confusing, so I know I am definitely not understanding the formula. Ratios especially – the whole idea of cross multiplying sounds good, but when I do this I become lost as I attempt to finish the problem. I hope you can help me begin to make sense of these areas.

Thanks, Jen
continue reading "GED Math: Percent and Ratio Word Problems"

Yo, all you GED studiers. Zaher wrote me with a good math problem… ’bout distance and speed and time. Take a gander…

Hey Curtis ,

Thanks for your prompt reply man . This is one of the problems I struggled with involving distance :

- A man started walking at 2 mph, while a woman 2 miles behind him began walking at the same time at a rate of 4 mph, and in the same direction. Just then, the man’s dog left him and ran toward the woman. Upon reaching her, it instantly turned around and ran back toward thr man. And so, the dog continued to run back and forth between them, at a constant rate of 5 mph, until the woman finally overtook the man. How far did the dog run?

**** Go enjoy figuring it out and let me know how to do it man !

Zaher

In the GED test, on the page with all the formulas, you got one for distance:

distance = rate x time

So, what’s it mean?
continue reading "GED Math: Distance, Rate, and Time"