Correct Your

# Problem
Answer Answer

If 6 workers can harvest a field in 18 hours, how many

1 36
workers would it have taken to do it in 3 hours?
workers
Solution
Let x be the number of workers it would have taken.
(6 workers)(18 hours) = (3 hours)x
108 worker-hours = 3x hours
36 workers = x
Correct Your
# Problem
Answer Answer

If 8 workers can plant a garden in 6 hours, how many

2 12
workers would it have taken to do it in 4 hours?
workers
Solution
Let x be the number of workers it would have taken.
(8 workers)(6 hours) = (4 hours)x
48 worker-hours = 4x hours
12 workers = x

Solve. Simplify all fraction answers and use simple "improper" form. For
example, if you get 1 2/4, write 3/2.
Decimal form 1.5 is also acceptable.

Correct Your
# Problem
Answer Answer
Peter and Steven take 51/3 hours to do a job. Steven alone takes
1 16 hours to do the same job. How long would it take Peter to do 8
the same job alone? hours
Solution
Let t = number of hours for Peter working alone
1 job 1 job 1 job
+ =
t 16 hours 51/3 hours

Answer: t = 8 hours
Correct Your
# Problem
Answer Answer
2 Jennifer takes 4 hours to do a job. John takes 6 hours to do the
 same job. Working together, how many hours will it take them 12/5
to do the job? hours
Solution
Let t = number of hours working together
1 job 1 job 1 job
+ =
4 hours 6 hours t

Answer: t = 12
/5 hours

Complexity=1, Mode=rates

Solve. Simplify all fraction answers and use simple "improper" form. For
example, if you get 1 2/4, write 3/2.
Decimal form 1.5 is also acceptable.

Correct Your
# Problem
Answer Answer
Mary works 2.5 times faster than Peter. Together, they do a job
1 in 12.5 hours. How long does it take Mary working alone to do 17.5
the same job? hours
Solution
Let f = number of hours it takes Mary working alone
and 2.5f = number of hours it takes Peter working alone
1 job 1 job 1 job
+ =
f 2.5f 12.5 hours

Solve for f to get f = 17.5 hours

Working alone, Mary takes f.
Answer: f = 17.5 hours
Correct Your
# Problem
Answer Answer
One pipe can empty a tank 5 times faster than another pipe can
fill the tank. Starting with a full tank, if both pipes are turned on,
2 40
it takes 10 hours to empty the tank. How long does it take the
slower pipe working alone to fill an empty tank? hours
Solution
Let f = number of hours it takes the faster pipe and 5f = number of hours it takes the
slower pipe
1 tank 1 tank 1 tank
- =
f 5f 10 hours
Solve for f to get f = 8 hours
Working alone, the slower pipe takes 5f.
Answer: 5f = 40 hours

Complexity=1, Mode=mixed

Solve. Simplify all fraction answers and use simple "improper" form. For
example, if you get 1 2/4, write 3/2.
Decimal form 1.5 is also acceptable.

Correct Your
# Problem
Answer Answer
One pipe can empty a tank 5.5 times faster than another pipe can
fill the tank. Starting with a full tank, if both pipes are turned on,
1 74.25
it takes 16.5 hours to empty the tank. How long does it take the
slower pipe working alone to fill an empty tank? hours
Solution
Let f = number of hours it takes the faster pipe and 5.5f = number of hours it takes the
slower pipe
1 tank 1 tank 1 tank
- =
f 5.5f 16.5 hours

Solve for f to get f = 13.5 hours

Working alone, the slower pipe takes 5.5f.
Answer: 5.5f = 74.25 hours
Correct Your
# Problem
Answer Answer
One pipe can empty a tank 2.5 times faster than another pipe.
Starting with a full tank, if both pipes are turned on, it takes 7.5
2 10.5
hours to empty the tank. How long does it take the faster pipe
working alone to empty a full tank? hours
Solution
Let f = number of hours it takes the faster pipe and 2.5f = number of hours it takes the
slower pipe
1 tank 1 tank 1 tank
+ =
f 2.5f 7.5 hours

Solve for f to get f = 10.5 hours

Working alone, the faster pipe takes f.
Answer: f = 10.5 hours

A worker can finish exact work for 15 days, other worker can finish only 75% of
that work for the same time. At first the second worker worked several days and
 then the first one joined him and together they finished the rest of the work for 6
days.
Find how many days worked every worker and what percent of the work has done
each one of them?
Solution:
First we will find the daily production of every worker. If we take the whole work as
unit(1), the production of the first one is 1/15 and the production of the second is
75% of 1/15, i.e.
75/100.1/15 = 1/20 Lets take that the second worker worked alone x days. Then
the work he finished will be x/20. For the 6 days work done in common they
finished 6.(1/15 +1/20) = 6.7/20 = 7/10
The sum of x/20 and 7/10 gives the whole work, i.e. 1. So we get the equation:
x/20 +7/10 = 1 <=> x = 6 The second worker worked 6 +6 = 12 days and the
first one only 6 days. The work finished from the second worker is 12.1/20 =
60/100 = 60%, and from the first one 6.1/15 = 40/100 = 40%

AREA PROBLEMS :

A rectangle is 4 times as long as it is wide. If the length is increased by 4 inches

and the width is decreased by 1 inch, the area will be 60 square inches. What were
the dimensions of the original rectangle?

Solution:

Step 1: Assign variables:

Let x = original width of rectangle

Sketch the figure

Step 2: Write out the formula for area of rectangle.

A = lw

Step 3: Plug in the values from the question and from the sketch.

60 = (4x + 4)(x 1)

Use distributive property to remove brackets

60 = 4x2 4x + 4x 4
Put in Quadratic Form
4x2 4 60 = 0
4x2 64 = 0

This quadratic can be rewritten as a difference of two squares

(2x)2 (8)2 = 0

Factorize difference of two squares

(2x)2 (8)2 = 0
(2x 8)(2x + 8) = 0

We get two values for x.

Since x is a dimension, it would be positive. So, we takex = 4

The question requires the dimensions of the originalrectangle.

The width of the original rectangle is 4.
The length is 4 times the width = 4 4 = 16

Answer: The dimensions of the original rectangle are 4 and 16.

MONEY :

As in all word problems, units of measure must be consistent. In the following

problems, this means that all money will need to be in terms of dollars or in terms
of cents. In the examples that follow, dollars will be used.

Example 1:
Terri has $13.45 in dimes and quarters. If there are 70 coins in all, how many of
each coin does she have?

Let x represent the number of dimes. Because the number of dimes and quarters is
70, 70 x represents the number of quarters. Terri has x dimes, so she has
$0.10 x in dimes. She has 70 x quarters, so she has $0.25(70 x ) in quarters.
These two amounts must sum to $13.45.
Terri has 27 dimes and 70 x = 70 27 = 43 quarters.
Example 2:
Bobbie has $1.54 in quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. He has twice as many
dimes as quarters and three times as many nickels as dimes. The number of
pennies is the same as the number of dimes. How many of each coin does he have?

Nickels are being compared to dimes, and dimes are being compared to quarters,
so we will let x represent the number of quarters. Bobbie has twice as many dimes
as quarters, so 2 x is the number of dimes he has. He has three times as many
nickels as dimes, namely triple 2 x : 3(2 x ) = 6 x . He has the same number of
pennies as dimes, so he has 2 x pennies.
How much of the total $1.54 does Bobbie have in each coin? He has x quarters,
each worth $0.25, so he has a total of 0.25 x (dollars) in quarters. He has
2 x dimes, each worth $0.10; this gives him 0.10(2 x ) = 0.20 x (dollars) in dimes.
Bobbie has 6 xnickels, each worth $0.05. The total amount of money in nickels,
then, is 0.05(6 x ) = 0.30 x (dollars). Finally, he has 2 x pennies, each worth
$0.01. The pennies count as 0.01(2 x ) = 0.02 x (dollars).
The total amount of money is $1.54, so
 Bobbie has 2 quarters; 2 x = 2(2) = 4 dimes; 6 x = 6(2) = 12 nickels; and
2 x = 2(2) = 4 pennies.

INVESTMENT :

A woman had $10,000 to invest. She deposited her money into two accountsone
paying 6% interest and the other interest. If at the end of the year the total
interest earned was $682.50, how much was originally deposited in each account?

You could either let x represent the amount deposited at 6% or at . Here, we

will let x represent the amount deposited into the 6% account. Because the two
amounts must sum to 10,000, 10,000 x is the amount deposited at . The
amount of interest earned at 6% is 0.06 x , and the amount of interest earned
at is 0.075(10,000 x ). The total amount of interest is $682.50, so 0.06 x +
0.075(10,000 x ) = 682.50.

The woman deposited $4500 in the 6% account and 10,000 x = 10,000 4500 =
$5500 in the account.

MIXTURE PROBLEMS :

How many liters of a 70% alcohol solution must be added to 50 liters

of a 40% alcohol solution to produce a 50% alcohol solution?

liters sol'n % alcohol total liters alcohol

70% sol'n x 0.70 0.70x
40% sol'n 50 0.40 (0.40)(50) = 20
50% mix 50 + x 0.50 0.50(50 + x)
From the last column, you get the equation 0.7x + 20 = 0.5(50 + x). Solve for x.

How many ounces of pure water must be added to 50 ounces of

a 15% saline solution to make a saline solution that is 10% salt?

ounces liquid % salt total ounces salt

Water x 0 0
15% sol'n 50 0.15 (50)(0.15) = 7.5
10% mix 50 + x 0.10 0.10(50 + x)

From the last column, you get the equation 7.5 = 0.1(50 + x). Solve for x.

(Note the percentage for water. "Pure water" contains no salt, so the percent of salt
is zero. If, on the other hand, you were trying to increase the salt content by
adding pure salt, the percent would have been one hundred.)

Find the selling price per pound of a coffee mixture made

from 8 pounds of coffee that sells for $9.20 per pound and 12 pounds
of coffee that costs $5.50 per pound.

pounds coffee $/pound total $ for coffee

pricey 8 $9.20 (8)($9.20) = $73.60
cheapo 12 $5.50 (12)($5.50) = $66
mix 8 + 12 = 20 ? $73.60 + 66 = $139.60

From the last row, you see that you have 20 pounds for $139.60,
or $139.60/(20 pounds). Simplify the division to find the unit rate. Copyright
Elizabeth Stapel 1999-2011 All Rights Reserved

How many pounds of lima beans that cost $0.90 per pound must be
mixed with 16pounds of corn that costs $0.50 per pound to make a
mixture of vegetables that costs$0.65 per pound?

pounds $/pound total $ for veggies

lima beans x $0.90 $0.90x
Corn 16 $0.50 (16)($0.50) = $8
Mix 16 + x $0.65 (16 + x)($0.65)

From the last column, you get the equation $0.90x + $8 = (16 + x)($0.65). Solve
for x.

Two hundred liters of a punch that contains 35% fruit juice is mixed
with 300 liters (L)of another punch. The resulting fruit punch
 is 20% fruit juice. Find the percent of fruit juice in the 300 liters of
punch.

liters punch % juice total liters juice

35% juice 200 0.35 (200)(0.35) = 70
other punch 300 x 300x
Mix 200 + 300 = 500 0.20 (500)(0.20) = 100

From the last column, you get the equation 70 + 300x = 100. Solve for x, and then
convert the decimal answer to a percentage.

Ten grams of sugar are added to a 40-g serving of a breakfast cereal

that is 30% sugar. What is the percent concentration of sugar in the
resulting mixture?

grams in bowl % sugar total grams sugar

sugar 10 1.00 10
cereal 40 0.30 (40)(0.30) = 12
mix 50 ? 10 + 12 = 22

From the last row, you see that there are 22 grams of sugar in the 50 grams in the
bowl, or 22/50. Simplify, and then convert to a percentage.

AGE PROBLEMS :

In three more years, Miguel's grandfather will be six times as old as

Miguel was last year. When Miguel's present age is added to his
grandfather's present age, the total is68. How old is each one
now? Copyright Elizabeth Stapel 2000-2011 All Rights Reserved

This exercise refers not only to their present ages, but also to both their ages
last year and their ages in three years, so labelling will be very important. I
will label Miguel's present age as "m" and his grandfather's present age as
"g". Then m + g = 68. Miguel's age "last year" was m 1. His grandfather's
age "in three more years" will be g + 3. The grandfather's "age three years
from now" is six times Miguel's "age last year" or, in math:

g + 3 = 6(m 1)

This gives me two equations with two variables:

m + g = 68
g + 3 = 6(m 1)
 Solving the first equation, I get m = 68 g. (Note: It's okay to solve for "g =
68 m", too. The problem will work out a bit differently in the middle, but
the answer will be the same at the end.) I'll plug "68 g" into the second
equation in place of "m":

g + 3 = 6m 6
g + 3 = 6(68 g) 6
g + 3 = 408 6g 6
g + 3 = 402 6g
g + 6g = 402 3
7g = 399
g = 57

Since "g" stands for the grandfather's current age, then the grandfather is
57 years old. Sincem + g = 68, then m = 11, and Miguel is presently
eleven years old.

One-half of Heather's age two years from now plus one-third of her
age three years ago is twenty years. How old is she now?

This problem refers to Heather's age two years in the future and three years
in the past. So I'll pick a variable and label everything clearly:

age now: H
age two years from now: H + 2
age three years ago: H 3

Now I need certain fractions of these ages:

one-half of age two years from now: ( 1/2 )(H + 2) = H/2 + 1

one-third of age three years ago: ( 1/3 )(H 3) = H/3 1

The sum of these two numbers is twenty, so I'll add them and set this equal
to 20:

H
/2 + 1 + H/3 1 = 20
H
/2 + H/3 = 20
3H + 2H = 120
5H = 120
H = 24

Heather is 24 years old.

DISTANCE PROBLEMS :

A 555-mile, 5-hour plane trip was flown at two speeds. For the first
part of the trip, the average speed was 105 mph. Then the tailwind
 picked up, and the remainder of the trip was flown at an average
speed of 115 mph. For how long did the plane fly at each speed?

First I'll set up a grid: Copyright Elizabeth Stapel 2000-2011 All Rights
Reserved

d r t
first part d 105 t
second part 555 d 115 5t
total 555 --- 5

Using "d = rt", the first row gives me d = 105t and the second row gives me:

555 d = 115(5 t)

Since the two distances add up to 555, I'll add the two distance expressions,
and set their sum equal to the given total:

555 = 105t + 115(5 t)

Then I'll solve:

555 = 105t + 575 115t

555 = 575 10t
20 = 10t
2=t

According to my grid, "t" stands for the time spent on the first part of the
trip, so my answer is "The plane flew for two hours at 105 mph and
three hours at115 mph."

CONSECUTIVE FRACTION :

The sum of the reciprocals of two consecutive integers is 5/6. Find the
integers.

Let the consecutive integers be n and n+1:

The LCD is

Multiply through by this LCD

 gives solution

gives solution

We discard the fractional solution, since it is not an integer.

So the only solution is 2,

so the consecutive integers are 2 and 3:

Checking:

Find four consecutive even integers such that the sum of the second and
fourth integers is one and a half times the sum of the first and third integers.

Solution #1:

Consecutive Even Integers: n, n + 2, n + 4, n + 6 for even integer n

Sum of Second and Fourth Integers: (n + 2) + (n + 6) = 2n + 8

Sum of First and Third Integers: n + (n + 4) = 2n + 4

Since sum of the second and fourth integers is twice than the sum of the first
and third integers, it follows that:
2n + 8 = 1.5(2n + 4)

2n + 8 = 3n + 6

3n 2n = 8 6

n=2

Four consecutive even integers are 2, 4, 6, and 8

Example #2:

Find three consecutive odd integers such that the sum of the second and third
integers is four times the first.

Solution #2:

Consecutive Even Integers: n, n + 2, n + 4 for odd integer n

Sum of Second and Third Integers: (n + 2) + (n + 4) = 2n + 6

Since sum of the second and third integers equals four times the first
integer, it follows that:

2n + 6 = 4n

4n 2n = 6

2n = 6

n=3

Three consecutive odd integers are 3, 5 and 7

Twice the larger of two numbers is three more than five times the smaller, and the sum of
four times the larger and three times the smaller is 71. What are the numbers?

The point of exercises like this is to give you practice in unwrapping and unwinding these words, and
turning the words into algebraic equations. The point is in the solving, not in the relative "reality" of the
problem. That said, how do you solve this? The best first step is to start labelling:
 the larger number: x
the smaller number: y

twice the larger: 2x

three more than five times the smaller: 5y + 3
relationship between ("is"): 2x = 5y + 3

four times the larger: 4x

three times the smaller: 3y
relationship between ("sum of"): 4x + 3y = 71

Now I have two equations in two variables:

2x = 5y + 3
4x + 3y = 71

I will solve, say, the first equation for x:

x = (5/2)y + (3/2)

Then I'll plug the right-hand side of this into the second equation in place of the "x":

4[ (5/2)y + (3/2) ] + 3y = 71
10y + 6 + 3y = 71
13y + 6 = 71
13y = 65
y = 65/13 = 5

Now that I have the value for y, I can solve for x:

x = (5/2)y + (3/2)
x = (5/2)(5) + (3/2)
x = (25/2) + (3/2)
x = 28/2 = 14

As always, I need to remember to answer the question that was actually asked. The solution here
is not "x = 14", but is the following sentence:

The larger number is 14, and the smaller number is 5.