1. ## "Simple" pre-algebra help please

He's working on math "sentences" and specifically figuring out where to put parenthesis to make the sentence true. I know how to do this, and have helped with all the problems except for this one, and I just can't figure it out.

I've tried several trains of thought, but simply can't figure out where the parenthesis should go to make the following mathematical statement true.

Am I missing something?

6 - 5 x 5 / 7 + 5 = -22 4/7

2. Originally Posted by feverpa

He's working on math "sentences" and specifically figuring out where to put parenthesis to make the sentence true. I know how to do this, and have helped with all the problems except for this one, and I just can't figure it out.

I've tried several trains of thought, but simply can't figure out where the parenthesis should go to make the following mathematical statement true.

Am I missing something?

6 - 5 x 5 / 7 + 5 = -22 4/7
6-(5x([5/7]+5))
=6-(5x(40/7))
=6-(200/7)
=-158/7
=-22 4/7

3. Thank you so much for the explanation.

One further question - is there a clue that tells you where to start?

I thought the clue was 4/7, so I had to do the 5x5 (or -5x5) first, and divide that by 7 to get something that ended in 4/7

did you get it by trial and error, or did you have a strategy based on something that I'm not seeing?

thanks again.

4. $-22\ and\ \frac{4}{7}\ is\ -\frac{22(7)}{7}-\frac{4}{7}=-\frac{154+4}{7}=-\frac{158}{7}$

Using 7 as denominator, your equation is $\frac{42}{7}-5 \frac{5}{7}+\frac{35}{7}$

You can begin to see that the brackets need to be around the last 2 fractions
to get a number as high as -158 for the numerator.