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How Do You Solve a Word Problem Where You Multiply and Subtract Whole Numbers and Fractions?

While gambling at the Virtual Nerd Casino Tammy lost two thirds of a dollar six games in a row. If she started out with 10 dollars how much did she have left?

Summary

  1. 'm' is a variable that represents Tammy's leftover money
  2. Create a mathematical expression from the problem statement
  3. She starts with $10 minus 2/3 times 6
  4. Set that all equal to 'm'
  5. Go through the order of operations:
  6. 6 times 2 over 3 is equal to 12 over 3
  7. 12 over 3 is equal to 4
  8. 10 minus 4 is equal to 6
  9. Tammy has $6 left

Notes

    1. 'm' is a variable that represents Tammy's leftover money
    1. She started with $10 before losing money, so write 10 down first
    1. She lost 2/3 of a dollar several times in a row, so for now, just write minus 2/3
    2. Then multiply the 2/3 by 6, because she lost money 6 times in a row
    1. 10-(2/3)•6 represents Tammy's leftover money, which is 'm'
    2. 'm' is a variable
    1. RHS stands for Right Hand Side
    2. We can simplify the RHS by just going through the order of operations
    1. We should multiply 2 over 3 by 6, first
    1. We should multiply 2 over 3 by 6, first
    2. 6 times 2 over 3 is equal to 12 over 3
    1. Now onto the division
    2. 12/3 = 4
    1. Lastly, we do addition or subtraction
    2. 10 - 4 = 6
    1. We started in dollars, we should end in dollars
    1. Tammy has $6 dollars left after gambling at the Virtual Nerd Casino!