maths whizz needed!!!! urgent

[labradoodley]

We need help in solving this equation!

5a-2(5a+4a)=-9

thanks

SORRY!!!! SHOULD READ

5a-2(5+4a)=-9

You need to expand the brackets first.

So it will be

5a-10-8a=-9

Then collect the as on one side and the numbers on the other

so

-3a = 1

so a = -1/3

Does that make sense?

thankyou thankyou!!!!!

I hope this isn't for your final assesment labradoodley. I've got this question on my Open University course final assesment.

no, my dd is home tutored. My dd doing extra gcse maths with her tutor but stuggling and i have very little maths knowledge! Is there a website fo Open University maths we could view for help?

ive just realised... my dd tutor is also an associate tutor for Open University so maybe the maths question here is from a course book?

This was a GCSE level question??? A y10 or y11 question??

Y11

I still find it a bit odd that her tutor would set her a question exactly same as in the final assessment. There are a mulitude of equations they could have used instead. The final assessment is what you have to do when the cousre is finishin as this one is in a week or so. It has to be in on the 29th Sept so I think they were more than a little foolish in using an equation that is in an on going exam.

It's not in a course book it's from the assessment downloaded from the site which is only accessable if you're on the course.

ok, thanks.

Is it for the bottom module?

My head exploded just reading that - and I'm supposed to be taking GCSE maths starting next week

bottom module?

It's not "Starting with maths" which is what you do if your totally unsure of maths It's "Discovering mathematics"

My oldest child has just started Y8 and I'm very very very old so old that I did O levels. So I'm not very familiar with the GCSE format but I understand from my teacher friends that maths GCSE has various modules/papers some of which can only get you a C however well you do (foundation paper, maybe?) and some of which are aimed at kids who would expect to get A*-C. So I was wondering (assuming really) if this question was from the former modules rather than the O level equivalent modules.

I am pretty sure I did this sort of thing in Year 9. But memory doesn't extend quite that far back

We started doing basic algebra like that in the first year when I was at school (so, Y7). My DD was doing equations like that in Y6. This is why I'm so surprised at it being a GCSE question but I suppose it's just a warm up, maybe?

The focus of school maths does seem to have changed since my day.

This is from an Open University module's assesment I'm doing to brush up on my maths. Over all I'd say the course is g.c.s.e level.
There are a lot more questions than this one! It has questions ranging in difficulty.

My daughter did expansion and algebra last year - that was when she was doing nat curr level 5 and 6.

Level 5 questions are approx grade E and level 6 grade D ish for GCSE - so they might come up in a GCSE paper to grade those children sitting it working at that level.

That sounds right. My DD was working at beyond level 5 (that was as scientific as her teacher was able to explain it to us!). So, it looks like 'foundation' paper stuff then. Fair enough.

As a maths teacher I would say that that question was higher tier, not foundation. The multiplying a negative over the bracket and ending up with a negative coefficient makes it too tricky for a foundation candidate.