Question

What do I do to solve this?

"A plot of land is in the shape of a triangle. If one side is x meters, a second side is (2x-3) meters, and a third side is (3x-5) meters, express the perimeter of the lot as a simplified expression in x."

Answer 1

for this one you can add up the lengths of each side:

x + (2x - 3) + (3x - 5)

try it out and see what you get

Answer 2

well, I started trying to work it out, and it looks something like this
3x-4x+4x-5x
but I'm not sure if that's right or if I'm doing something wrong :P

Answer 3

or is it supposed to look like this
2x-3x+3x-5?

x.x this is killin' me.

Answer 4

All right let's break it down:

x + (2x - 3) + (3x - 5)

let's drop the parentheses to get:

x + 2x - 3 + 3x - 5

first combine the x + 2x = 3x to obtain:

3x - 3 + 3x - 5

then combine the 3x + 3x = 6x to obtain:

6x - 3 - 5

for clarity, rewrite 6x - 3 - 5 as 6x + (-3) + (-5)

this gives us:

6x + (-8) =
6x - 8

Answer 5

k, let me try work that out on my own like you did it.

Answer 6

Darn computer lost connection for a moment... was gonna ask a question about dropping the parenthesis. To drop the parenthesis, do you use (what I think is called) the distributive property? Where you multiply the stuff in the parenthesis by the number before it? If so, is there an unseen 1 in front of these parenthesis?

Answer 7

Sorry if I ask a lot of questions. I tend to analyze EVERYTHING I come in contact with lol. My friends even tell me to stop analyzing things XD

Answer 8

It complicates even the simplest tasks sometimes.

Answer 9

btw, I did work the problem out how you did and got the same answer. so thank you.

Answer 10

oh, so when parentheses, so long as there is a + sign before the parentheses, it's OK to drop them.

for example:

1 + (3 - x) = 1 + 3 - x

but if there is something in front of the parentheses like a number, then you'd have to distribute:

1 + 2(3 - x) = 1 + 6 - 2x

likewise, if there is a minus sign in front of the parentheses, then you'd treat it as a + -1 like:

1 - (3 - x) = 1 + -1(3 - x) = 1 + -3 + x = 1 - 3 + x

Answer 11

I gotta go. But thank you again for all your help.

Answer 12

sure thing!