document.write( "Question 876961: Ellen and Angela went on a dinosaur dig in Mongolia. Each day the dug for fossils, and at the end of the day they checked in with David, the chief paleontologist. He helped them separate the fossils, those that went to the museum and those they could keep. At the end of the first day 3/5 of the total went to the museum. On the second day, they found 8 new fossils and then 5/8 of the total went to the museum. On the third day, they found 26 new fossils and the museum kept 2/7 of the total. On the fourth day, they added 29 fossils and gave 5/9 to the museum. On the fifth day, they found 6 more fossils and the museum kept 5/6 of the total. They found an additional 10 fossils on the sixth day and the museum kept 2/3 of their collection. At the end of their expedition they had 5 fossils to take home. How many total fossils did they donate to the museum?\r
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document.write( "* I don't know how to approach this problem... Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.* \n" );
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Algebra.Com's Answer #529139 by KMST(5328)![]() ![]() You can put this solution on YOUR website! Maybe the people at the artofproblemsolving website think this is an easy question. \n" ); document.write( "For me, it is hard enough just to try to interpret the problem. \n" ); document.write( "Here is my interpretation in table form: \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "Ellen and Angela found \n" ); document.write( "At the end of the day they checked in with David, the chief paleontologist. \n" ); document.write( "He helped them separate the fossils and they ended having to give 3/5 of the total they had to the museum. \n" ); document.write( "They could keep the remaining \n" ); document.write( "and that was \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "On the second day, Ellen and Angela found \n" ); document.write( "Added to the \n" ); document.write( "when they took those \n" ); document.write( "he selected \n" ); document.write( "That meant that Ellen and Angela could keep the other \n" ); document.write( "So they kept \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "On the third day, Ellen and Angela found \n" ); document.write( "Added to the \n" ); document.write( "When they took those \n" ); document.write( "he selected \n" ); document.write( "That meant that Ellen and Angela could keep the other \n" ); document.write( "So they kept \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "On the fourth day, Ellen and Angela found \n" ); document.write( "Added to the \n" ); document.write( "When they took those \n" ); document.write( "he selected \n" ); document.write( "That meant that Ellen and Angela could keep the other \n" ); document.write( "So they kept \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "On the fifth day, Ellen and Angela found \n" ); document.write( "Added to the \n" ); document.write( "When they took those \n" ); document.write( "he selected \n" ); document.write( "That meant that Ellen and Angela could keep the other \n" ); document.write( "So they kept \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "On the sixth day, Ellen and Angela found \n" ); document.write( "Added to the \n" ); document.write( "When they took those \n" ); document.write( "he selected \n" ); document.write( "That meant that Ellen and Angela could keep the other \n" ); document.write( "So they kept \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "The problem gives you some of the numbers for that table. \n" ); document.write( "You start with \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "I see three options to build that table: \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "1) The table can be constructed from the bottom up. \n" ); document.write( "Knowing that they ended up with \n" ); document.write( "and that those \n" ); document.write( "you figure that on the evening of the sixth day they had taken \n" ); document.write( "Since they had collected \n" ); document.write( "that means that they had started the sixth day with \n" ); document.write( "Those \n" ); document.write( "That means that on the 5th evening, they had brought \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "You can keep back-calculating that way to fill the entire table. \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "2) Since I get easily mixed up, I chose to start filling the table from the top, by smart trial and error. \n" ); document.write( "I used a spreadsheet program on the computer to make it easier for me. \n" ); document.write( "I realized that to get integers on the first row, the first \n" ); document.write( "Using \n" ); document.write( "but I do not get integers for all spots on the other rows.\r \n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Using \n" ); document.write( "but the second row ends up in \n" ); document.write( "Using \n" ); document.write( "Using \n" ); document.write( "and using \n" ); document.write( "Unfortunately, I do not get integers for all spots on the other rows. \n" ); document.write( "However, I see a pattern: \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "will results in integers all across the first and second rows. \n" ); document.write( "I tried \n" ); document.write( "Better yet, the last number on the table was \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "3) The table can be constructed from the top down, using a little algebra and a lot of arithmetic: \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "I could try to calculate \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "Then \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "At best I could say that \n" ); document.write( " \n" ); document.write( "I know I would make mistakes going on with calculations like that. \n" ); document.write( " |