Lesson 8.4 Summary

For further information about solving problems using systems of linear equations, see pp. 432 - 439 and 492 - 498 of Mathematics 10.

The problems used in a math course, like this one, often seem trivial or contrived. That is because they often are. Modelling is generally the most difficult part of solving a problem using mathematics. This is true for the greatly simplified situations seen in a mathematics course, but it is especially true for genuine real-world problems, which are often extremely complex, and whose modelling difficulty would go well beyond the scope of this course. Think of the simplified problems in this course as stepping stones to solving more complex problems. Consider Claire's farmer's market stall problem, for example. Most businesses don't sell a single product and most have more than two types of expenses. However, all businesses are very interested in knowing the amount of money spent compared to the amount of money brought in. The farmer's market problem provides a simplified version of the big question all businesses have, "is the business going to make money?"