tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7399127082527147995.post1359457974474036026..comments2023-07-11T11:33:04.292-04:00Comments on Time, Effort, and Focus: this week's MGRE Math Beast ChallengeKevin Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7399127082527147995.post-5071574690015603312012-05-10T22:15:58.023-04:002012-05-10T22:15:58.023-04:00Well, "plug-and-chug" isn't any sort...Well, "plug-and-chug" isn't any sort of official terminology; it's just a slangy way of saying that you're using numbers instead of variables. We use the term all the time where I work.<br /><br />True: 100 is a rather sad attendance figure.Kevin Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7399127082527147995.post-59609148452292786242012-05-10T16:35:20.665-04:002012-05-10T16:35:20.665-04:00Ah, is that what it's called? That's basic...Ah, is that what it's called? That's basically what I did, too. Except I used 1,000, because an annual sporting event with only a hundred people attending sounded too sad.Charleshttp://www.liminality.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7399127082527147995.post-54863120774178942942012-05-09T02:30:46.625-04:002012-05-09T02:30:46.625-04:00That's what I got. I did a plug-and-chug:
20...That's what I got. I did a plug-and-chug:<br /><br />2010 = x<br />2011 = 100<br />2012 = 105<br /><br />Therefore,<br /><br />105 = 1.2x<br /><br />x = 87.5<br /><br />100/87.5 = 1.142857... (or 8/7)<br /><br />((8/7) - 1)•100 = approx. 14.286<br /><br />So: 14.286% increase.<br /><br />I remember seeing this suggestion in one of MGRE's earlier explanations: it's sometimes easier to solve certain problems with plug-and-chug than through, say, compound ratios or whatever. Use simple, easily manipulable numbers, like 100 (I could've used 10, come to think of it), to figure things out quickly.Kevin Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7399127082527147995.post-11893827670522941942012-05-09T01:27:50.978-04:002012-05-09T01:27:50.978-04:0014.286?14.286?Charleshttp://www.liminality.orgnoreply@blogger.com