Writing in Mathematics

Question

Directions: At the regional diving competition, the local team is hoping to qualify for the state championship. In today’s competition, the team must score at 53 points to qualify. The score of the first 5 dives are given in the chart. Each dive can earn a maximum of 10 points. What scores can the team earn on the 6th dive that will qualify them for the state diving competition?

regional diving

competition

Dive: #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6

score card

score: 9.8 9.4 8.4 8.2 8.9 ?

how might writing and solving an inequality help with this situation? Find the solution to the problem and interpret what the solution means in terms of the team qualifying for the state competition. Also describe the plan or steps to solving the problem providing specific details and vocabulary words that were learned throughout the unit.

Answer 1

Let the sixth dive equal x. What we want is: the sum of the first five dives plus the sixth dive is greater than or equal to 53. Then

9.8 + 9.4 + 8.4 + 8.2 + 8.9 + x ≥ 53

44.7 + x ≥ 53

x ≥ 8.3

The sixth dive must be at least 8.3 points. Simple! Hope this helps