arrived guests = a
invited guests = i
\frac{2}{3}i = a
yes.
Seven more invited guests arrived including Cedric. Now 5/6 of the invited guests are present.
Can you make the equation for this?
\frac{5}{6}i= a+7
Yes. Does doing the problem that way make sense? Do you see how those equations and variables correspond to the words more directly and better explain whatās going on?
Yeah, I do. I just had a hard time, initially, seeing the guests that had already arrived there as a variable. My mind was only seeing the invited guests as the variable there.
For #3, what was your final answer?
For #2, can you try setting it up using two equations?
For the problem I did x_1 = w , x_2=x , x_3 = y , x_4=z . It made a lot easier to look at for me.
I did a four variable system of linear equations. It took me ~1hr 30 minutes. I got it right. A lot of time was spent on calculations. Almost everything was calculated by hand. I only stopped calculating by hand right at the end. When I finally solved for y and got a fraction. I knew that from the answers that the website usually looks for I was (probably) wrong.
I looked through my work and my only error (that I know of) was on page 3 and 4. The equation numbered 7. The equation was equal to 2821. I accidentally, one line down, wrote it as equal to 2827. This frustrated me. The frustration plus being tired made me just do the rest with the calculator.
Hereās my work:
Itās good that your understanding of the concepts worked for this. I donāt think practicing it is needed.
- I set the original number weāre looking for as x. x=6.
#2
c = coins given by her parents, s = coins lost on the way to school
c - 1/2 c = s
4/5s = 1/2c
hmm that would 4/5s = s. That makes no sense. A third variable? coins found after retracing her steps = r?
c-1/2c = s
4/5s = r
Hmm. I donāt think that helps. Trying to set it up as two is confusing.
Kk. So is my understanding of solving linear equations by substitution fine?
yes
oops i mixed up the numbers and meant to ask about #2 there
Youāre putting the variables in the denominator. i think you meant 4s/5 and c/2. Using parenthesis would work too but is unnecessary. Do you understand the issue?
Youāre trying to judge the equations by calculating, and maybe trying to write down things in the format you expect to calculate based on instead of just writing down what the problem says. Itās important to be able to judge whether or not they match what the problem says, which doesnāt require calculating to see if they give a good answer.
I should have said 2+ equations not 2. In general, use as many equations and variables as you need. Go through each thing the problem says and try to model it in a clear, understandable way.
Kk. I got 1c/10 as my answer. I now remember that when I did #2 initially I was going to note down that my process didnāt follow the steps well. I think I was tired when I did these so I just posted what I did and forgot to mention that.
Yes. Huh, now that you pointed that out I canāt read them as I intended anymore, neat. Thank you.
Coins given by emmaās parents = c
She lost half her coins on the way to school
s = what she lost on the way to school
c - c/2 = s
she found four-fifths of the coins she had lost
coins she found = f
4s/5 = f
Hmm. I think those are better? Iām confused as to how I would put down how many coins she was still missing. I know it would be the coins she didnāt lose plus the coins she found subtracted from the initial amount of coins, but I donāt think I can do that right from the problem.
ending_coins = starting_coins - lost_coins + found_coins
does that make sense and let you continue on the problem? you had the variables needed to represent this. i just renamed them for clarity. Iām not sure why you used āsā btw. I would have picked ālā for lost if using one letter.
I think I may be confusing myself on the way I should be approaching these problems. I know I had starting coins, lost coins and found coins. However, since nowhere in the problem stated that ending coins is equal to starting coins - lost coins + found coins I thought I couldnāt make an equation for it.
Coins lost on the way to school. school. school = s :), probably not the best to represent it now that I think about it. I think my brain just auto assigned it and I think I subconsciously assumed there would be more places where we lost coins to assign.
You often have to think about what the words mean (some but not too much ā understanding the words isnāt meant to be very complicated with these). They sometimes assume some simple background knowledge.
The actual thing the problem asks about is ending_missing_coins_fraction not ending_coins though. So you could make an equation for that and finish the problem.
Assignment: Write 15+ minutes per day. Subject matter is up to you. I just want to get you more comfortable with writing.
You can do private journaling, you can write thoughts on intellectual issues, you can write todo lists to organize your days, you can write commentary on TV and YouTube, you can write suggestions for your workplace (no need to tell your workplace), you can write notes on things you learned, you can write explanations of how to do things, whatever.
Try not to skip more than 1 or 2 days per week. Keep track of what days you write on and maybe time and word count. But donāt try to make your time or word count go up; big numbers arenāt the goal here.
Share a write every week or two. Itās fine if most of it is private but try to write something shareable sometimes. You can share more if you want to.
Kk.
coins she ends with (e) = c - s + f
coins sheās still missing (m) = coins she started with (c) - coins she ends with (e)
m = c - e
Ok good try a couple more word problems
Ok. I used to do this. I would never say it was ever a really consistent habit but Iād primarily just write down any thoughts that came to mind. Some weeks Iād write daily for two weeks straight, other times I wouldnāt write at all for a week. The earliest log I have in my notes app of me doing this is from February 2020. Prior to using note-taking apps I would log down ideas into a small moleskin notebook I had at the time. I think I filled it up 3/4 of the way from 2018-2020? I transcribed the stuff in there to my notes app.
Just noting down the kind of writing I already do:
- I recently started journaling using the day one app on my iPhone around bed time. So far Iāve done it six days in a row (not including today).
- I write down my thoughts on intellectual issues. Typically if Iām watching a video Iāll write down thoughts that come to me as I watch it.
- After work if Iām not tired Iāll write down some thoughts of how work went and how either I or my workplace could do better.
- I take notes on pretty much anything I learn. If I go through a book, course, or video I usually make a page in my note taking app for the media.
- Oh yeah, the vast majority of my notes came from when I would read and think about the stuff I was reading.
Hmm. Looking at my notes app I just realized how bad Iāve actually been with writing as of recent. I think Iāll brainstorm as to possible reasons today and share it. Iāve never been consistent but this is the least amount of stuff Iāve written in the past ~6 years.
To get the ball rolling I guess hereās something Iāve written down before that I donāt mind sharing:
August 18th, 2020
- Art is not the primary cause, ideas are. Donāt blame trashy and ghetto rap, donāt blame post-modern art, donāt blame nihilistic movies for our problems. These are merely the consequences of ideas. [[General Notes and Thoughts]]
- I would say 99.9% of the time regulators arenāt actually genuinely surprised that no one reads their absurd 1,000,000 page regulation. The point of the regulation is that it is 1,000,000 pages. They expect people not to be able to read all of it, they expect people not to be able to comply with all of it. Having too many laws is just as unbearable as having vague laws, for they fit the same purpose. [[Law]] [[General Notes and Thoughts]]
- Death is merely an effect, to kill someone is a secondary cause, the motive is the primary cause. The cause determines the crime. This is a perfect example of the means determine the ends, that cause determines the overall effect. It is the means and cause by which someone is killed that determines if it was a murder or a self-defense.
- To kill someone does not exist, to murder someone, does. To kill someone does not exist, self-defense, does. What each of those definitions take into account is context. It is context that determines the action. There is no such thing as pure killing, that is an abstraction detached from reality. Killing has causes, i.e. context, to give its true nature. [[General Notes and Thoughts]] [[Law]]
itās not recent and I donāt intend to dump old stuff Iāve written here but Iāve been organizing my notes app recently and liked this. I donāt know if I still agree with it all, especially the the last two. This makes me wonder: do you want me to explain why and what exactly Iām sharing with you when I do share?
I just copied and pasted this from my note-taking app. Itās 888 words. I wrote for about ~30 minutes. I used my own quote below as a prompt.
- when I wrote a lot
- I wrote a lot when I was reading those articles from Miss Rand. When I read The Objectivist Newsletter, The Objectivist, and the Ayn Rand Letter (though I donāt I think I finished reading all the articles in The Objectivist or Ayn Rand letter) I would write my down thoughts as they came to me when I read them. I remember scanning them, saving the scans as pdf, and then using adobe acrobat to highlight and take notes.
- I wrote quite a bit in high school. I think this is when I first read Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, Anthem, some of Miss Rands non-fiction, and some books on politics by other authors.
- I wrote a lot when I initially started my job at Dairy Queen and later Starbucks. I think I wrote some stuff around this time because I was starting to learn how bad the working world actually is. I knew from Atlas Shrugged and just general commentary that thereās a lot of problems in the world but I didnāt realize how bad it actually was.
- Hmm what else makes me write? I write when thereās something someone says that I disagree with. I think I do this often when it comes to the trash taste podcast. One of the boyās will say a take that I think is wrong and then I end up commenting on it.
- When I first started at Dairy Queen and Starbucks I wrote a lot from my initial reactions and conversations with people. I think at some point I just kind of stopped thinking about the people I worked with and what kind of thoughts and opinions they had. I remember initially thinking about and trying to tie in some stuff in Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead in how I view the people around me.
- Sometimes when I take notes I write what I think along with them. A recent example of this is my recent go through of the Pre-Algebra textbook. When I first went through it (actually I think this was my second time going through it, though the first time I was lazy about how I went through it) I remember taking notes and making note of any bad things in the textbook. I also remember noting things I understood well and integrated well with other things I wrote.
- when I didnāt write a lot
- what was going on when I didnāt write a lot? I think one of the things as of recent is working too much. There have been quite a few times in the past ~3 years where I literally just wake-up, brush my teeth, go to work, eat, work again, come home, do some chores and then go to bed.
- Mmm. Getting too caught up in bad emotions. I donāt know if thatās the best way to put it. Something will happen that makes me really sad/depressed for a while. The issue is that depending on what it is making me sad I get very caught up in the issue and canāt focus on anything until I get it resolved. Sometimes I get it resolved within the same day, other times it can be up to a week.
- I just feel lazy sometimes? Today Iām in a good mood so I can think on stuff and write quite easily. Other times I notice that Iām forcing myself to keep a habit up and canāt quite write on anything. During certain periods when I was reading Ayn Randās articles some days I would read it and annotate a lot and take a lot of notes. Other days I would read it and it felt like I was just seeing words on a page. I was probably tired those days?
- Ooh this is something Iāve been thinking of for a while: I think I got lazy due to the repetitive nature of some of my thoughts. I think in part because I have a bad habit of consuming the same things multiple times (I think Iāve listened to the Atlas Shrugged audiobook at least ~5 times) I end up having the same thoughts I want to jot down. I think at some point I noticed this and just stopped noting down some thoughts. Itās the same kind of thoughts every time. An example I can think of is some of my own comments Iāve made in regards to having so many regulations that its the same as non-objective law. Iāve made this comment to myself numerous times throughout the years. Each time I did think of it, I felt smart but at some point I realized Iām just noting down a repetitive thought I kept having.
- hmm, related to the above: I think since Iāve been quite bad at managing my life. Iāve also been quite bad at doing stuff with the thoughts I have. I know for some of the repetitive thoughts I have on stuff. Each time it feels like a new thought. I then soon recognize Iāve thought this before and have noted it down before, I think the issue is that Iām bad at integrating my thoughts and doing stuff with them. So while I note them down, nothingās been done with them so my brain just kind of forgets about that interesting thought I have.