I struggle with modelling with differential equation, is there an easier way of interpreting this type of wordy question?

I would let the student identify what the important elements of the question are and encourage them to assign each with a term or other mathematical notation. I would then go through these to make sure the student understood what terms such as rate of increase/decrease mean in mathematical notation. This should make a seemingly wordy question appear a lot simpler however, if the student was still struggling to answer the question, I would give them hints towards the right answer like 'what does the rate of change being proportional to that term mean?' until the student understands. I would then encourage the student to try a different question to ensure that they could repeat the process.
With this type of question I would always ensure the student started on one that was phrased show that as this gives them immediate confirmation that their answer is correct.

CL
Answered by Christopher L. Maths tutor

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