Word Problems Set 1

Front 1

Neko and Ruth are both waitresses. Last night Ruth made twice as much as Neko and both girls together made $170. How much did Neko earn last night?

Back 1

Let n be what the question is asking, how much Neko earned. Since Ruth earned twice as much, the amount she earned will be 2n. The equation will look like this:

n + 2n = 170

Now you just need to solve for n.


Neko made $56.67

Front 2

The price of corn was $4/bushel on January 2009 and $7/bushel on January 2010. By what percentage did the corn price change from January 2009 to January 2010?

Back 2

The price change in percents is 100×(7 - 4)/4 = 75%

Front 3

A family plans to spend 5% of its income on vacations? If the annual family income is $70,000, how much can they spend for vacations?

Back 3

5% of $70,000 is 0.05×$70,000 = $3,500

Front 4

A number is increased 20% and the resulting number is decreased 50%. The final number is what percent of the original number?

Back 4

If n is the initial number, the final number is 0.5×(1.2×n) = 0.6×n.
The final number is 60% of the original number

Front 5

A bag of table tennis balls costs $12. There are 15 balls in the bag. How much does each ball cost?

Back 5

The price of a table tennis ball is $12/15 = $0.8

Front 6

Lou Ann spends $50 per month for a bus and subway pass. She estimates that if she bought a car, she would spend $105 per month on car payments, $70 per month for parking, $80 per month for gasoline and upkeep, and $75 per month for insurance. About how much does she save per month by using public transportation?

Back 6

First, add to find how much her monthly expenses would be if she used a car.

$105 + $70 + $80 + $75 = $330

Subtract $50 (cost of bus and subway pass) to find how much she saves per month by using public transportation.

$330 – $50 = $280

Front 7

Mr. Levin sells a load of firewood for $65. He charges an additional $20 if he also stacks the wood. Of the 70 loads he delivered in October, he stacked 18. Which of the following expressions represents the amount he earned in October?

Back 7

For the sale of 70 loads of wood at $65 each, he makes (65)(70) dollars. For stacking 18 loads at $20 each, he makes (20)(18) dollars. Add the two expressions together to get an expression for the total amount he earned in October: (65)(70) + (20)(18)

Front 8

A plane flies the 700 miles from Atlanta to Detroit in 1 1/4 hours. What is the plane’s average air speed, in miles per hour?

Back 8

Use the formula r = d ÷ t. Put 700 in place of d and 1 1/4 in place of t.

r= 700 ÷ 1 1/4
r= 700 ÷ 5/4
r = 700 × 4/5 = 140 × 4 = 560

Front 9

Roy bought $34.15 worth of materials at the hardware store. A sales tax of 6 percent was added on. What was the final cost?

Back 9

To find the sales tax, find 6% of $34.15. That’s the same as 0.06 × $34.15, which equals $2.0490. The sales tax rounds off to $2.05. Add it to the cost before tax to get the total: $34.15 + $2.05 = $36.20

Front 10

A study shows that a contractor employs 6 times as many men as he does women, with a total work force of 490. How many men does the contractor employ?

Back 10

Let w stand for the number of women the contractor employs. Then 6w represents the number of men it employs. Since the total number of employees is 490, w + 6w = 490. Solve this equation for w.

w + 6w = 490
7w = 490
w = 70

Ifw = 70, then 6w (the number of men) equals 420

Front 11

A new roll of insulated electrical wire has 200 feet of wire. Mr. Saunders needs pieces that are 6 1/4 feet long. How many full pieces of this length can he cut from the roll?

Back 11

Divide the number of feet of wire in the roll (200) by the size of the pieces he wants (6 1/4 feet).

200 ÷ 6 1/4 = 200 ÷ 25/4 = 200 × 4/25 = 8 × 4 = 32

Front 12

A rental store charges a fine of 25 percent of the usual full-day rental rate for each hour that an item is late. Ryan rented a rototiller for one day for $40. He returned it 3 hours late. How much was his total bill for the rental and the fine?

Back 12

The rental fee was $40. For each hour that the return was late, a charge equal to 25% of the rental fee, which is 1/4of $40, or $10, was made. Since the rototiller was returned 3 hours late, the late fee was 3 × $10, or $30. The rental fee plus the late fee was then $40 + $30, or $70

Front 13

Marco works from 5:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. on Mondays and Wednesdays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he works from 3:00 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. How many hours does he work each week?

Back 13

From 5:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. is 2 hours. He works those hours on 2 days of the week for a total of 4 hours. From 3:00 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. is 5 hours and 30 minutes, or 5 1/2 hours. He works those hours on 2 days of the week, for a total of 10 2/2, or 11, hours. The Monday and Wednesday total of 4 plus the Tuesday and Thursday total of 11 gives a weekly total of 15 hours.