# Help with stupid simple math problem. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-stupid-simple-math-problem/508895 "2009-09-04T19:01:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-stupid-simple-math-problem/508895/1 "2009-09-04T19:01:48Z")
I think I used to know this, and I know I should be able to figure it out, but my high school math skills have atrophied over the past 40 years. What’s the method for finding factors of a given number that are in a certain ratio to each other? For instance, a movie theater screen is said to be 180 square meters in area. Assuming that its sides are in a 1.78 ratio (the width is 1.78 times the height), how do I determine their dimensions? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-stupid-simple-math-problem/508895/2 "2009-09-04T19:10:13Z")
Let h and w be width and height, respectively. You’re given: hw = 180 w=1.78h Substitute: h(1.78h) = 1.78h^2=180 Solve for h: sqrt(180/1.78) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-stupid-simple-math-problem/508895/3 "2009-09-04T19:10:36Z")
Area = Width x Height Width = Height x 1.78 So, substituting the second equation into the first: Area = Height x Height x 1.78 And solving for Height: Height = Square Root( Area / 1.78 ) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-stupid-simple-math-problem/508895/4 "2009-09-04T19:13:43Z")
If x is the shorter dimension, then 1.78 x^2 = 180 x^2 = 101.1236 x = 10.05602 metres and the other side is 17.89972 metres. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-stupid-simple-math-problem/508895/5 "2009-09-04T19:16:26Z")
:smack: (I had that response all ready to go.) Thanks, guys. (Now can someone help me figure out how much 2+2 is?) ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-stupid-simple-math-problem/508895/6 "2009-09-04T19:36:05Z")
How much would you like it to be? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-stupid-simple-math-problem/508895/7 "2009-09-04T20:13:15Z")
2 + 2 = 1 modulo 3. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-stupid-simple-math-problem/508895/8 "2009-09-04T20:30:41Z")
5 (for very large values of 2) 😃