# Khan/khan-exercises

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# Negative number word problems - Problem with question#6901

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Reporter: rkayn@yahoo.com

The question should be, how much does Michael still owe the bank. Even assuming he has no other assets or liabilities, he should still have the equipment he purchased to use next year count as an asset, increasing his net worth.

negative_number_word_problems.html?seed=121&problem=baseball_camp_result

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realbug

This is a valid complaint on both counts - first, it's not specified whether Michael has any other assets or liabilities (the problem assumes that he has neither), and it's true that the equipment purchased should count as an asset.

The suggested fix ("How much does Michael owe the bank at the end of the summer?") would make the problem better, though the answer should then be a positive number, not a negative one.

referenced this issue from a commit in praveenRamalingam/khan-exercises
 praveenRamalingam Fixes #6901? Not sure how to reword the question and still have the a… …nswer be negative. 8c846a2
referenced this issue from a commit in praveenRamalingam/khan-exercises
 praveenRamalingam Fixes #6901? Not sure how to reword the question and still have the a… …nswer be negative. 935a2be
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### BugFix - Negative number word problem clarification #10129

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One way to word the question would be to say, "what is his account balance with the bank?" That way, if he owes money, it will be a negative number, but otherwise it will be positive?

This isn't an accounting exercise, so maybe remove the bank and keep it simple:

Michael runs a baseball camp every summer. This summer, Michael spent $X to buy baseball bats, mitts, baseballs, and water bottles, and to pay the coaches’ salaries. Y campers attended Michael’s baseball camp, and each camper paid a fee of$Z to attend. If those were his only income and expenses, how much money did Michael earn from the camp this summer?

Not sure if this clears up the question. First thought I have is that he earns $Y*Z since the earning doesn't necessarily account for the expenses. Hm, okay, then what about: Michael runs a baseball camp every summer. This summer, Michael spent$X to buy baseball bats, mitts, baseballs, and water bottles, and to pay the coaches’ salaries. Y campers attended Michael’s baseball camp, and each camper paid a fee of \$Z to attend. Taking into account both his income and his expenses, how much money did Michael earn from the camp this summer?

That term "earn" is still causing me to hesitate - "to gain or get in return for one's labor or service" (dictionary.com) . How about changing the question to "After using his earnings to pay the bank towards his loan, what is his balance?" This assumes that the user knows that if you owe someone it is a negative balance, which may be a push, but shows understanding of real use of negative numbers.

referenced this issue from a commit in jasonm/khan-exercises
 jasonm (#6901) Rephrase baseball camp word problem to clarify 5739d87
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### (#6901) Rephrase baseball camp word problem to clarify #16921

I've made changes to reflect your discussion here, @MathKevin @muldoon2007 and @Christi.

Thoughts? ?

Received and addressed some formatting and styling feedback from @Christi on the pull.

closed this issue from a commit
 beneater Merge branch 'patch-1' of https://github.com/wohanley/khan-exercises Conflicts: exercises/negative_number_word_problems.html close #10991 fix #6901 af3b231
closed this in af3b231