Translating English into math

[eumreem]

I am struggling with translating these two problems into math?

1- there are 3 times as many votes for mystery novel as ther are votes for the biography ?

2-There are 3 times as many girls as boys?

[tim]

Start by defining variables and see what you can come up with. Make sure you identify what is equal to what and set up an equation with an equal sign between those two things. Try this out and let us know if you need further help.

[eumreem]

Thanks alot
I know these steps but I want to make sure if I do it the correct way or not

1- there are 3 times as many votes for mystery novel as ther are votes for the biography ?
3M=B
M= mystery novel
B=biography

2-There are 3 times as many girls as boys?[/quote]
g=girls
b=boys
3g=b

[RonPurewal]

There are 3 times as many girls as boys

^^ the above statement means that there are more girls. e.g., 30 girls and 10 boys.

if you try these numbers in your equation, you'll find that your equation is backward.

nb:
you haven't indicated whether you actually understand the meaning of these statements.
in other words, when you're quoting the sentence above, i can't tell whether you actually understand that it means "more girls".

that's a key difference.

• if you don't currently understand this meaning, then you just need to memorize a few examples of this pattern, and use those examples to make future analogies when necessary.

• if you do understand this meaning, don't bother memorizing an algebra setup-- just try one, and then use normal common sense to check whether it's correct. then, if it's backward, just switch the letters.

[RonPurewal]

... and, since your 2 examples are functionally identical, everything i've written here also applies to the first one (which i didn't address explicitly).