SOLUTION: Please help! I need to show examples too. 1.When translating an application problem into an algebraic equation, what words can help distinguish between coefficients and constant

Question 189699: Please help! I need to show examples too.
1.When translating an application problem into an algebraic equation, what words can help distinguish between coefficients and constant terms? How do you decide what each variable should represent? What are some other important words or phrases to look for?
Thank You!
Answer by solver91311(24713) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!

In applications problems, look for values that do not change when your chosen variable changes -- those numbers become constants. Numbers that must be multiplied times variables are coefficients.

For example, the ubiquitous coin problem:

Somebody has a piggy bank with some dimes and quarters in it. You know that the total amount of money in the bank is some value (a constant). You also know that there are some certain number of coins in the bank (also a constant). But to get the value in cents of however many dimes there are, you need to multiply the variable you have assigned to the number of dimes by 10 (a coefficient) -- the value of your dimes is then 10d (assuming d represents the number of dimes) and the value of the quarters is then 25q.

By the way, if you just have a variable by itself, like x, this has an understood coefficient of 1.

Not sure I answered your question completely. I never solve application problems using the "which are coefficients and which are constants" train of thought, so it is somewhat difficult to tell you which words give you clues as to those things. You may be better off just thinking of the relationships that are described and translate those relationships to mathematical statements.

John

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