Err...yeah, i need help, NOT THE ANSWER i just want to know if i'm doing this, uhh...correctly :

A regular newspaper measures 60.96 centimeters by 38.1 centimeters. The largest newspaper was the HetVolk, printed in Belgium in 1993. It measured 142 centimeters by 99.5 centimeters. How many times larger was the area of the HetVolk than a regular newspaper?


So this is what i did:
I made two squares:


I. The first square I labeled
38.1 by 60.96, which is the regular
newspaper. I multiplied them to find
the area and got 2322.576

II. The second square I labeled
142 by 99.5, which is the Hetvolk
newspaper, and multiplied to find
the area and got 14139

Then I divided 14139 by 2322.576 and got 14139/2322.576=6.09 (rounded) or ~6
Am i going about this totally wrong....cause I feel this isn't correct

_______________________
And I'm not quite sure what i'm to do to figure this problem out:

Write down the positive integers as shown below. Which column will contain the number 500?

**1 2 3
6*5 4
**7 8 9
121110

It's hard to position it...The 6 and 12 should be lined up, the 1, 5, 7 and 11 should be lined up, the 2, 4, 8 and 10 should be lined up and the 3 and 9 should be lined up. I'm confused as to how i figure it out...

After reading your process, it seems correct to me..

Oh, okay, it seems reasonable to me, but I got a bit confused when someone got 60....

is 60 the right answer? don't be so insecure with yourself.
and i would help you with the column problem, but your columns seem to be misaligned. clarify that, please?

I'm not sure if 60 is the answer...hehe yeah I'm not sure. Do you think I'm going about the problem correctly though? Azarel said it seemed correct.

for the column problem, all they tell me is this:
Write down the positive integers as shown below. Which column will contain the number 500?

[ignore the astericks]

**1 2 3
6*5 4
**7 8 9
- *. +


- is a 12, so the 6 and 12 are lined up in a column
. is a 11 so the 1, 5, 7 and 11 are lined up in a column
+ is a 10 so the 2, 4, 8 and 10 are lined up in a column
The 3 and the 9 are lined up in a column

sorry, i still don't understand what they're asking you. are these supposed to add up to something? where does the 500 come into play? are the asterisks meant to be spaces?

Yep, they're just spaces. They aren't in the book, but the computer is mean. That's all they tell me....which is wierd.

I don't get it.
But here's an image to help!
Is this what you mean, Patrick?

uh..where's everybody getting 60 from? I thought "6 times" was the answer..I don't like these wording problems..but I do believe that you're doing everything correctly

Exactly! Phew, it was hard to explain it, but that's exactly how it looks



That's good to know, I'm pretty sure that other person is wrong. I kind of thought it over...

im getting 14,129...
&the column thing. wouldnt the 3rd column be the 500 one?but ihavenoclue

Whoops, you're right about 14,129...i really should start checking my work with a calq

Yeah, I think it's the third column too, because well....I don't know. 500 is an even number, and going down....only the third column would equal 500....but then...it's still confusing because they barely tell you what they're asking for