Impasta

Wow, to think I typed all that up for nothing :(

You've certainly gotten the answer by now, right?

Are you still there, or did you find the answer somewhere else?

If you get stuck or need help, just ask!

As I suggested, do some review and you'll realize that this problem is very easy.

There's no easy way out for this problem, unfortunately, and you'll have to make a list. Get your hands dirty!

I see you are on the Vieta's Formulas Week of Intermediate Algebra right now. This hint has probably already been given, but do you notice anything interesting about the first term of the function. Namely, does it remind you of a certain (a+b)^2?

P.S. Ask in the AoPS forum! Their advice will be way better than mine.

This is a very, very interesting problem, and I don't want to spoil the answer for you. Probably one of my favorites so far.

The reason I say it is because the solution is very simple and elegant. Also, this is one of the few writing problems that may be possible by yourself.

It appears you are lacking in some fundamental counting and probability concepts. I would recommend going back to your book (are you using AoPS?) and doing some review.

I was hoping there was some non-trig way. Most of the math I do doesn't involve trig, and so I'm not very good at it.

Umm... I have no idea what that formula is, but can't you just plug in 5 for F and V and solve for E? Seems pretty simple IMO compared to some of the other problems you've posted.

This is a system of equations. Let s be the price of a shirt and b be the price of a belt. Turn words into math. Here is one of the equations:

s = 3b.

Find the other and solve. I'd recommend using substiution.