How to solve a math problem

Understand the problem first.Then, find formulas and information to help you solve the problem.

Example: Farmer duck's farm starts with 5 ducks. At the 6th week there are 40 ducks. How much ducks get added to the farm each

1. In mathematical terms the problem is asking the common difference of a arithmetic sequence.

2. To find the common difference of a arithmetic sequence you can use the formula a1+d(n-1) = an where a1 is the first term which equals 5 and d is the common difference which we are solving for n is the number of the term which in this case is 6 and an is the value of the nth term which is 40. Plugging in this information we find that 5+d(5) = 40 5d + 5 = 40

   -5    -5

5d = 35

d = 7 therefore our answer is 7