Solve Sat Math: Find # Passengers on Bus Now

  • Thread starter Thread starter hkhero
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Sat Sat math
AI Thread Summary
A bus picks up x passengers at the first stop and y passengers at the second stop, then 2/3 of the passengers exit at the third stop, followed by 2 more passengers getting on at the fourth stop. The discussion revolves around finding the current number of passengers on the bus using the equation derived from these steps. One participant suggests using direct calculation rather than plugging in numbers, emphasizing that the bus should start with zero passengers. Another participant initially used a wrong assumption of 20 passengers before the route began, which led to confusion in their calculations. The consensus is to solve the problem directly in terms of x and y for accuracy.
hkhero
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
At the first stop on its route, a bus picks up x passengers. At the second stop, y passengers get on the bus. At the third stop, 2/3 of the passengers exit the bus. At the fourth stop, 2 passengers get on the bus. How many passengers is the bus carrying right now?
a) (3x+3y+4)/3
b) (2x-2y-4)/3
c) (6-2x-2y)/3
d) (x+y+6)/3
e) (3x+2y+6)/3

I'm jux wondering hwo can u do this by using PLUG INS... thanks a lot... btw the answer is D.
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
In my humble opinion, you should just figure it out directly, without resorting to some trick.

But if you're dead set on plugging things into solve the problem... then do it by plugging things in. :-p If you're having problems, then show us what you've done, and where you're stuck!
 
thatZ wt i did:
for ppl whoz orignally, i put 20 for that, then for x i put 3, and for y i put 4.
so first stop itz 20+3,
second stop itz 23+4,
third 27 * (1/3) = the ppl whoz left in the bus
fourth 9+2
so the total number is 11, but i couldn't find the answer... help! i think i have a problem about setting the original number of the bus.
 
for ppl whoz orignally, i put 20 for that
Ah, that's your problem. The bus shouldn't have any passengers on board before it starts servicing its route!
 
so it should be 0 for the orignally passenger?
 
Before the bus picks up x passengers, it should have zero on board. Otherwise, it kind of defeats the point of having a first stop.

I highly recommend you solve it by seeing how many passengers there must be in terms of x and y directly, otherwise you're going to be using a weak method that will only fail you later (or if it's not multiple choice)
 
Seemingly by some mathematical coincidence, a hexagon of sides 2,2,7,7, 11, and 11 can be inscribed in a circle of radius 7. The other day I saw a math problem on line, which they said came from a Polish Olympiad, where you compute the length x of the 3rd side which is the same as the radius, so that the sides of length 2,x, and 11 are inscribed on the arc of a semi-circle. The law of cosines applied twice gives the answer for x of exactly 7, but the arithmetic is so complex that the...
Is it possible to arrange six pencils such that each one touches the other five? If so, how? This is an adaption of a Martin Gardner puzzle only I changed it from cigarettes to pencils and left out the clues because PF folks don’t need clues. From the book “My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles”. Dover, 1994.

Similar threads

Back
Top