Question

Joe is playing a game with a regular die. If the number that turns up is even, he will gain 5 times the number that comes up. If it is odd, he will lose 10 times the number that comes up. He tosses a 3. Express the results as an integer.

Answer 1

If Joe tosses a 3, he will lose 30 dollars.

Explanation:

To express this in a general form we can use functions which will be expressed in terms of the number tossed.

• We know that if the number that turns up is even, he will gain 5 times the number.
• Therefore, the function for when the number x is even would be f(x) = 5x

• On the other hand, if the number is odd, he will lose 10 times the number.
• Therefore, the function for when the number x is odd will be f(x) = -10x

Finally Joe tosses a 3, 3 is an odd number, therefore the function we will use will be f(x) = - 10x

f(3) = -10(3) = -30

Therefore, Joe will lose 30 dollars.

Answer 2

30 dollars

Explanation:

The question states that if an even number comes up then Joe will win 5 times of the number that shows up for example, if 2 comes up he will win 5×2 dollars i.e., 10 dollars. If an odd number shows up he will lose 10 times the number which i.e. if 1 shows up he will lose 1×10 = 10 dollars

It says in the question that Joe tosses a 3 which is an odd number so he will lose 10 times of 3

So he will lose 10×3 = 30 dollars.