Equations that represent real relationships are called mathematical models. What follows is one method of using mathematical models to solve problems.
Suppose a taxi ride from the airport to downtown costs $46.37. Suppose also that it costs $4.85 to ride in the taxi, and an additional $1.73 per mile traveled. Calculate the distance of the ride using the following method.
First, it can be helpful to highlight the information given about the situation.
A variable can be used to represent the unknown quantity in the situation.
Here, the unknown quantity is the length of the ride. Thus, the variable m will be used to represent the number of miles traveled.
Next, it is necessary to understand how the different quantities in the problem relate.
The total cost includes the starting fee and the cost of the miles traveled. Additionally, the cost of the miles traveled can be found by multiplying the cost per mile by the distance traveled. As a verbal equation, this relationship can be expressed as follows.
total cost=starting fee+cost per mile⋅distance
Creating the equation involves translating the relationship from Step 3 into symbols.
To do this, replace each quantity with the corresponding value.
For this situation, the following equation can be written. total cost = starting fee+cost per mile⋅distance46.37=4.85+1.73⋅m
Given a perimeter of 23 feet, what is the measure of the longest side of the triangle?
To begin, let's make sense of the given information. The perimeter of the triangle is 23 feet, and the side lengths of the triangle are 5,(x+3),and(3x−1). The perimeter of a polygon is the sum of all its side lengths. Therefore, we can equate the sum of the given lengths with 23 feet. This gives the following equation. 5+(x+3)+(3x−1)=23 Solving this equation gives us the value of x, which will help us find the longest side. We'll start by combining like terms.
From here, inverse operations can be used to isolate x.
Thus, x=4 feet. By substituting x for 4 in the expressions for the unknown side lengths we can find their measures.
x+33x−1⇔4+3=7⇔3⋅4−1=11
The side lengths of the triangle are 5, 7, and 11 feet.
Therefore, the longest side in the triangle is 11 feet long.