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1. 

   gimmickgenius said, 9 months ago

   Who knew Peter was that smart? Putting a dollar sign in front of it ALWAYS makes math more interesting.

2. 

   JDG said, 9 months ago

   She’s a shopper!

3. 

   Doctor Toon said, 9 months ago

   JDGPro says:

   She’s a shopper!

   Yup, but she’s not too quick on the uptake.

4. 

   Robin Boyd said, 9 months ago

   What gets me is, this is an actual Real Life application of algebra!!

   … and they said it couldn’t happen ….

5. 

   JonD17 said, 9 months ago

   Wow, Peter, where did that come from?
   Your teachers would fall out their chairs!

6. 

   dcguys said, 9 months ago

   This is how we raised my nephew’s grade point by 1.5 when he was 11. We used money on the table, price lists of the toys/games he wanted, and his first savings account. His mom wasn’t happy that she had to help out with the savings account when he came home after his visit that summer but was pleased they didn’t have to spend so much time on homework anymore.

   Ahhh, the joys of being the uncle, not the parent.

7. 

   ForeverAllstar said, 9 months ago

   Amend must be a math and science wonk, he uses it all the time

8. 

   Machtyn said, 9 months ago

   ForeverAllStar: He is a geek. He spends his time playing World of Warcraft now. :)

9. 

   tobybartels said, 9 months ago

   My algebra students can learn to handle the original problem, but nearly every one will freeze up at the sight of a word problem. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's about something that interests them.

10. 

    mrprongs said, 9 months ago

    Paige is stupid and weird. She’s Steird.

11. 

    Ro said, 9 months ago

    peter knows how to speak paige’s lanuage..if only she realised the connection btween ther homework n his help :p
    both smart in thier own way :p

12. 

    bluetopazcrystal said, 9 months ago

    ForeverAllstar says:

    ForeverAllstar says:

    Amend must be a math and science wonk, he uses it all the time

    Bill has a Bachelors Degree in Physics. So there you go.

13. 

    Geekologist said, 9 months ago

    Wrong Peter, shes stupid, but good at real life math.

14. 

    Kevin said, 9 months ago

    that was THE ONLY way my neice could do algebra was to turn everything into shoes and money - lol

15. 

    wowfactor said, 9 months ago

    thanks, bill! keep teaching parents how to teach their kids by KNOWING them.

16. 

    Dave Kannikal said, 9 months ago

    Am I the only one who was compelled to write the problem down and solve it? Had to dig deep in the brain vault for the balancing equations knowledge…

17. 

    johndrake said, 9 months ago

    Paige is neither stupid nor weird; at the moment she has not mastered the ability to abstract from a particular problem to a more general version of the same problem.

18. 

    johndrake said, 9 months ago

    2x + y = 60

    x + 2y = 75

    sames as

    4x + 2y = 120
    -x -2y = -75
    ——————-
    3x + 0 = 45 ==> x = 15

19. 

    scbassist said, 9 months ago

    For all you algebra illiterate:

    2x + y - 60 = x + 2y - 75

    2x + y + 15 = x + 2y

    2x/y + 1 + 15/y = x/y + 2

    2x/y + 15/y = x/y + 1

    2 + 15/x = 1 + y/x

    1 + 15/x = y/x

    x + 15 = y

    x = y - 15

    2(y - 15) + y = 60

    2y - 30 + y = 60

    3y = 90

    y = 30

    x + 2(x + 15) = 75

    x + 2x - 30 = 75

    3x = 45

    x = 15

20. 

    Ro said, 9 months ago

    im sorry scbassist but johndrake made that math alot easier for me…altho i still say peters way may be the best way yet :p

21. 

    farren said, 9 months ago

    Yeah, but scbassist’s will work even if the “y”s don’t cancel out.

22. 

    SirTalksALot said, 9 months ago

    Another way to solve it

    2x + y = 60 –given

    y = 60 - 2x –solve for y

    x + 2y = 75 –given

    x + 2(60 - 2x) = 75 –replace y with 60-2x

    x + 120 - 4x = 75 –distribute 2

    120 - 3x = 75 –simplify

    120 = 3x + 75 –add 3x to both sides

    120 - 75 = 3x –subtract 75 from both sidex

    45 = 3x –simplify

    x = 15 –divide both sides by 3

    2x + y = 60 –given

    2(15) + y = 60 –replace x with 15

    30 + y = 60 –multiply

    y = 60 - 30 –subtract 30 from both sides

    y = 30 –simplify

23. 

    johndrake said, 9 months ago

    farrenPro says:

    Yeah, but scbassist’s will work even if the “y”s don’t cancel out.

    ——————-
    you can always make the variable of your choice cancel out, either x or y.

    Ax + By = C
    Dx + Ey = F

    work the first equation:
    -(E/B) (Ax + By) = -(E/B)C
    -(EA/B)x -(EB/B)y = -EC/B

    add the result to the second equation:
    -(EA/B)x - Ey = -EC/B
    Dx + Ey = F

    (-(EA/B) +D)x + 0 = F -(EC/B)

    x = (F - EC/B)/(D - EA/B)

24. 

    farren said, 9 months ago

    Of course you can, that’s basic. JohnDrake, however, left off a lot of the steps, and didn’t solve for y at all. Not that he was wrong, but he was oversimplified.

25. 

    PaulAtreides said, 9 months ago

    Pie = Good
    Math = Not Pie
    :(

26. 

    johndrake said, 9 months ago

    Talking about P.I.E. brings up object oriented programming -
    polymorphism
    inheritance
    encapsulation.
    ———————
    farrenPro says:

    Of course you can, that’s basic. JohnDrake, however, left off a lot of the steps, and didn’t solve for y at all. Not that he was wrong, but he was oversimplified.
    —
    yes, I sketched the solution and did not give a blow-by-blow description. Those who wanted the details could, I believe, figure them out. Those who did not would not have excruciating details thrown at them. As for the value of “y”, once you have the value for “x”, it is a trivial pursuit to find “y”; that is why I did not pursue it.

27. 

    kgadowsky said, 9 months ago

    Excellent to explain the disconnect in how we currently teach mathematics!

28. 

    Johanan Rakkav said, 9 months ago

    The disconnect (it seems to me) lies in concrete versus abstract thinking. Paige can’t deal with algebra in abstract terms, but she can when she’s given a concrete problem. My mother was like that. I’m the reverse: abstractions are easy, it’s the concrete that’s harder.

29. 

    BigAlanM said, 9 months ago

    Page’s thought process:
    From Peter’s statements in the third panel, exchanging 1 shirt for 1 sweater costs an extra $15 therefor exchanging the second shirt for a third sweater will make the bill $90.
    Sweaters obviously cost $30 apiece.
    Going back to the first statement and subtract 1 sweater and 2 shirts cost $30 or $15 apiece.

30. 

    carriebethdunbar said, 8 months ago

    Shirt Math