What are some problem solving strategies you have felt like worked for

you in this module?

I really enjoyed working on system of equations problems (is a set of two or more
equations, in two or more variables, for which a solution is sought.) System of
equations problems allow you to breakdown the problem in simple steps.
Example 1.
Your favorite Coffee Shop (I love coffee shop questions) sells their Arabic Coffee
grounds for $8.00 per pound. They sell their Columbian Coffee grounds for $12.00
per pound. Due to frequent customer request a blend is created and sells for $10.00
per pound. How much Arabic, and how much Columbian coffee grounds is needed to
go into a 26 lb blend?
Well, the breakdown is quite simple. I usually make a small table, next I plug in
variables.
Let Arabic Coffee= X
And Columbian Coffee= Y
We need a 26 lb blend= x+y=26
26 lb blend sells for $10.00= 26(10)=260
We plug in our variables again for equation 2:
8x+12y=260
At this point we have our problem set up. We solve this problem using the
elimination method:
X+y=26
8x+12y=260
*We can eliminate the first variable of each equation by first multiplying the top
equation by -8.
-8(x+y=26)
-8x-8y=-208
8x+12y=260 *add the two equations. This eliminates x.
4y=52 *divide by 4 to solve for y.
Y=13 13 lbs of Colombian Coffee grounds. Now we can plug this information
into equation one to solve for x.
X+13=26 *this step is quite simple, the answer is x=13/13 lbs of Arabic coffee. If
needed, or if we had bigger numbers, decimals, or fractions we would breakdown
this process by adding/subtracting the number to both sides.

This process works great! And can also be used if you owned your own business, or
if you're selling goods.