[2.04]Kevin and Conner tracked their exercise last week. Kevin ran fourteen laps around the school track, 8 laps around his neighborhood, and 3 miles on the treadmill. Conner ran 7 laps around the school track and eleven miles on the treadmill. Write and simplify an expression for the total combined distance that Kevin and Conner ran. Show your work. Use t for the distance in laps around their school track and n for the distance in laps around Kevin’s neighborhood.

Question

phi · Answer

Write and simplify an expression for the total combined distance that Kevin and Conner ran.

that means "simplify" all of that writing into a short expression.

any ideas?

anonymous · Answer

no

phi · Answer

This question is poorly worded.  

when they say
" Use t for the distance in laps around their school track"
I think they really mean   
Use t for the distance in miles around the school track

I would ask you teacher about that.

phi · Answer

Kevin ran fourteen laps around the school track, 8 laps around his neighborhood, and 3 miles on the treadmill.

focus on the info:  fourteen laps around the school track
shorten that to 14 "school track" laps.
each school lap is "t" miles.  
you could write t+t+t+...+t  (14 times)
or (faster) write 14 times t

either way you get 14t  (you write 14 times t  by putting 14 next to the "t")

phi · Answer

now look at the next part
 8 laps around his neighborhood, 

we use
n for the distance in *miles* around Kevin’s neighborhood. 

n miles is once around the neighborhood
8 times around the neighborhood is 8 times n  or 8n

so far we have
14t+8n  for Kevin

phi · Answer

finally, for Kevin,
 and 3 miles on the treadmill.

that means add 3 to what we go so far.  Kevin ran

14t+8n+3

phi · Answer

Can you try doing Conner?

 Conner ran 7 laps around the school track and eleven miles on the treadmill.