200+n/50. would this problem just be simplified? if so would the answer be 4+n?

Question

dividing top and bottom by fifty. im taking this practice test for pg&e and they say the answer is 4+n/50. how would that answer come to be?

Answer 1

You must divide n by 50 as well.
(200+n)/50
= 200/50 + n/50
= 4 + (n/50)
I think the first way is the better form.

Answer 2

BODMAS is what you need.

It stands for Brackets, Other (indicies etc), Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction.

It gives you the order that things must be done.

There are two processes that must be performed above, addition and division. By looking at bodmas you can tell that you must in fact do the division first, even though you would logically think that the addition should be done first, simply because it is first in the line. In this way, you will in fact find that the above expression is simply 200 + (n/50). You could experiment with brackets in different places, like the people above me have, but in order to get 4 + n as the simplified answer you would need to have written 200/50+n. By using bodmas you can do the division first to get 4, and then the addition to make 4 + n.

Remember that you can always just choose a number for n and try it out and see if it works! For example, if n = 1, then 200 +1/50, obviously does not equaly 4 +1, so something has gone wrong. Bodmas is the major thing in maths though.

Answer 3

I presume the original question is (200+n)/50.
That's the same as 200/50 + n/50.
Of course, 200/50 = 4.
That leaves you with 4 + (n/50).

Answer 4

(200+n)/50 = 200/50 + n/50 = 4 + n/50

Answer 5

a+b/n is NOT the same as (a+b)/n...

that is where you missed.... the brackets !