McGraw Hill Glencoe Algebra 1, 2012
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McGraw Hill Glencoe Algebra 1, 2012 View details
1. Adding and Subtracting Polynomials
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Exercise 51 Page 469

Practice makes perfect
a We are given two equations that represent the number of students enrolled in a school system. To find the equation for the number of students in the upper grades S, we will subtract the equations for the number of primary school students P from the total number of students N.

S=N-P
S = ( 1.25t^2-t+7.5)-( 0.7t^2-0.95t+3.8)
S= 1.25t^2-t+7.5 -0.7t^2+0.95t-3.8
S = 0.55t^2 - 0.05t + 3.7

The equation that models the number of students S in grades 6 through 12 is as follows. S= 0.55t^2 - 0.05t + 3.7

b We want to find the number of students who were enrolled in grades 6 through 12 in 2007. We can use the equation from Part A and substitute a value for t. Since t represents the number of years since 2000, we first need to find the number of years between 2000 and 2007.

2007-2000=7Now we can substitute t=7 into our equation for the number of students in grades 6 through 12 in 2007.

S = 0.55t^2 - 0.05t + 3.7
S=0.55( 7)^2 - 0.05( 7) + 3.7
â–¼
Evaluate right-hand side
S=0.55(49) - 0.05(7) + 3.7
S=26.95-0.35+3.7
S=26.6+3.7
S=30.3

We found that when t=7, S=30.3. Since we know that the numbers represented are in hundreds, we can multiply the value of S by 100 to get the total number of secondary school students. Let's do it! 30.3* 100=3030 In the context of the situation, this means that in 2007, there were 3030 students enrolled in grades 6 through 12 in this school system.