The Aged Monk Respond to the prompt.
The math we learn often doesn't seem to have much connection to everyday life. We may be taught a lot of details, but not a whole lot of explanation – why the rules are the way they are. In fact, sometimes math textbooks can even look like they were written in a totally foreign language.

Well, at TrinityTutors.com we do things differently. We devote most of our time to understanding the major concepts and relatively little time doing endless practice exercises. Moreover, we examine how people use math to solve real-life problems on a day-to-day basis. Our focus is on understanding algebraic concepts, seeing why certain techniques are useful, and learning how to apply them in ways that make sense.
An aged monk decides to make a sentimental visit to his former dwelling the palace on the top of the mountain. He leaves his monastary at noon and slowly trudges the many steps up the steep trail and arrives exausted.

At 7:00 p.m., he's treated to a refreshing bath, enlightening conversation, and whatever else monks enjoy when they visit a palace, so that by the next morning, he feels like a new man. He sets out again at noon,walks briskly downhill, and reaches his monastery at 3:00 p.m.

Here is the question: Is there any point on the trail that the monk passes at the same time of day going down as he did going up?
Lesson Preview

What You'll Learn

In this lesson you will be introduced to several mathematical themes. You will also learn five reasons why algebra is important in today’s world.
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LESSON 1
Introduction
Why study algebra?

  • Algebra sharpens your mind in a way that will help you to solve many different types of problems.

  • It reveals surprising things about the world, and it makes sense of things that are important to understand.

  • Algebra has the ability to empower supplying compact, general formulas that take the place of long lists of numbers. For example, if the telephone company says a long-distance call costs $2.50 for the first three minutes and $.70 per minute after that, rather than create humongous tables listing the cost for every possible length of call, we can determine the cost of a call lasting any given length of time by simply using a formula.

  • Moreover, once you have a general expression, you can manipulate it to find out things you don't know. For example, since distance equals the rate times the time (d = rt), if you know you have to go 73 miles and will be traveling at 65 mph, you can calculate how long it will take to get to where you're going by manipulating the expression, transforming it into t = d/r in order to figure out the length of time it take to get there.

  • And finally, solving abstract problems has led to the solution of many real-life problems in the past, such as how to fly a man to the moon, and will most certainly lead to the solution of many real-life problems in the future.
To discover the answer, watch the video lesson!
The goal of this lesson is to be able to list – by memory – five good reasons for studying algebra.