prepping for Teas, and having a very hard time getting something down

[hreilly]

Hi all, this is my first post, I do hope I am in the appropriate section. I have been diligently studying the ATI 5th edition for my test on August 5th. In hindsight, I feel I should have taken this exam after I took my college algebra. At that time I thought I should take my chem, and A&P 1 first, and that is what I did. I realized I forgot a lot of my algebra, however I have been working like crazy, and got a lot back. Here is my one problem, word problems with translating variable expressions. When I get a problem like [h=3]Enrique weighs 5 pounds more than twice Brendan's weight. If their total weight is 225 pounds, how much does Enrique weigh?[/h] I have no idea what I am doing. Like if someone just gave me a number problem, I can get it, but I cannot set this up for the life of me. I am dyslexic, word problems have always been a challenge. I have worked so hard, and can do almost all of them, but not things like this. I am going over a textbook, i know the key things like what to look for to signify multiplication, division etc, and i am still having such a hard time. I keep practicing, and trying, but I keep failing. Sadly I have worked problems so many time my brain,'unintentionally; has the answer for the problem memorized, but not the procedure...sometimes it feels like my dyslexia is some kind of glass ceiling. I have a 3.8 gpa, I was a great emt, I know i will make a great nurse...but this kind of stuff with standardised tests makes me want to cry, and throw in the towel. My program is very competitive, and I work so hard. I work, and work, and yet this kind of problem...I just cannot do. Well I should not say cannot, I cannot do it yet.

Does anyone know of a good site, or resource material that will help me get stronger in this area? I keep studying, and going to my college math lab just to prepare for this...so an additional tips would be greatly appreciated

[Banana nut, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Hey there buddy here is my advice:

1. You are not going to get more than a few of these problems on the teas. Not knowing how to do this will not break your score. From my experience it is more geared toward basic arithmetic and data interpretation. For example there will be a chart and you have to ID what numbers are significant to a question according to the data presented. Lots of PEMDOS and basic math stuff.

2. to answer your question about this math problem. Hopefully this makes sense..i'm gonna put your original problem into a formula. A+B=250 right? Enrique + Brendan =250lb

B= 2A + 5LB this means Brendan is 2x Enrique's weight plus 5 lb.

A + 2A +5lb=250 does this make sense?

3A +5=250

now you find out A and plug it back in the original equation to find B. These problems are time consuming and TEAS is not going to give you a bunch of problems that are not feasible in the time permitted.

Someone may have had a different experience with the TEAS and give different advice so best of luck to you!

[ItsThatJenGirl, CNA]

The easiest way for me to solve problems like this is to write down the information given. Then figure out where to stick it.

So, their total weight is 225, so we know that's on one side of the equation, alone.

So we have 225.

B (Brendon's weight) + E (Enrique's weight)=225

We know that Enrique weighs 5 pounds more than twice Brendan's weight.

So Enrique's weight is

E = 5 + 2B (5 more pounds than twice Brendan's weight)

So now we plug the E into our first equation.

B + (5 + 2B) = 225

Simplify.

3B + 5 = 225

Subtract 5 from both sides.

3B = 220

Divide by 3

B = 73.3

Now we'll plug E and B into the initial equation to see if we're correct.

73.3 + [5 + 2(73.3)] = 225

Simplify

73.3 + (5 + 146.7) = 225

So Brendan weighs 73.3 pounds, and Enrique weighs 151.7 pounds.

That's step by step. Does that help at all?