AGE PROBLEM:

1)
2)
John’s father is 5 times older than John and John is twice as old as his sister Alice. In two years
time, the sum of their ages will be 58. How old is John now?

Solution:

Step 1: Set up a table.

age now age in 2 yrs

John’s father    
John    
Alice    

Step 2: Fill in the table with information given in the question.

John’s father is 5 times older than John and John is twice as old as his sister Alice. In two years
time, the sum of their ages will be 58. How old is John now?

Let x be John’s age now. Add 2 to get the ages in 2 yrs.

age now age in 2 yrs

John’s father 5x 5x + 2
John x x+2
Alice

Write the new relationship in an equation using the ages in 2 yrs.

In two years time, the sum of their ages will be 58.

Answer: John is now 8 years old.

Work problems
1)
A tank can be filled by pipe A in 3 hours and by pipe B in 5 hours. When the tank is full, it can
be drained by pipe C in 4 hours. if the tank is initially empty and all three pipes are open, how
many hours will it take to fill up the tank?

Solution:

Step 1: Assign variables:

Let x = time taken to fill up the tank

Step 2: Use the formula:

Since pipe C drains the water it is subtracted.

Step 3: Solve the equation

The LCM of 3, 4 and 5 is 60

Multiply both sides with 60

Answer: The time taken to fill the tank is hours.

2)
The sum of the least and greatest of 3 consecutive integers is 60. What are the values of the 3
integers?

Solution:

Step 1: Assign variables :

Let x = least integer

x + 1 = middle integer

x + 2 = greatest integer

Translate sentence into an equation.

Sentence: The sum of the least and greatest is 60.

Rewrite sentence:

x + (x + 2) = 60

Step 2: Solve the equation

Combine like terms

2x + 2 = 60

Isolate variable x

2x =58

Step 3: Check your answer

29 + 29 + 2 = 60
The question wants all the 3 consecutive numbers: 29, 30 and 31

Answer: The 3 consecutive numbers are 29, 30 and 31.

Area problem
1)
The lengths of the sides of a triangle are consecutive odd numbers. What is the length of the
longest side if the perimeter is 45?

Solution:

Step 1: Being consecutive odd numbers we need to add 2 to the previous number.

Assign variables :

Let x = length of shortest side

x + 2 = length of medium side

x + 4 = length of longest side

Sketch the figure

Step 2: Write out the formula for perimeter of triangle.

P = sum of the three sides

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

45 = x + x + 2 + x + 4

Combine like terms

45 = 3x + 6
Isolate variable x

3x = 45 – 6

3x = 39

x =13

Step 3: Check your answer

13 + 13 + 2 + 13 + 4 = 45

Be careful! The question requires the length of the longest side.

The length of longest = 13 + 4 =17

Answer: The length of longest side is 17

Mixture Problem
1)
John has 20 ounces of a 20% of salt solution, How much salt should he add to make it a 25%
solution?

Solution:

Step 1: Set up a table for salt.

  original added result

concentration      

amount      

Step 2: Fill in the table with information given in the question.

John has 20 ounces of a 20% of salt solution. How much salt should he add to make it a 25%
solution?

The salt added is 100% salt, which is 1 in decimal.

Change all the percent to decimals

Let x = amount of salt added. The result would be 20 + x.

   original added result
concentration 0.2 1 0.25
amount 20 x 20 + x

Step 3: Multiply down each column.

  original added result

concentration 0.2 1 0.25
amount 20 x 20 + x
multiply 0.2 × 20 1×x 0.25(20 + x)

Step 4: original + added = result

0.2 × 20 + 1 × x = 0.25(20 + x)
4 + x = 5 + 0.25x

Isolate variable x
x – 0.25x = 5 – 4
0.75x = 1

Answer: He should add ounces of salt.

2)
Mixture Problems: Example 2:

John has 20 ounces of a 20% of salt solution. How much water should he evaporate to make it a
30% solution?

Solution:

Step 1: Set up a table for water. The water is removed from the original.

  original removed result

concentration      

amount      

Step 2: Fill in the table with information given in the question.

John has 20 ounces of a 20% of salt solution. How much water should he evaporate to make it a
30% solution?

The original concentration of water is 100% – 20% = 80%

The resulted concentration of water is 100% – 30% = 70%
The water evaporated is 100% water, which is 1 in decimal.

Change all the percent to decimals.

Let x = amount of water evaporated. The result would be 20 – x.

  original removed result

concentration 0.8 1 0.7
amount 20 x 20 – x

Step 3: Multiply down each column.

  original removed result

concentration 0.8 1 0.7
amount 20 x 20 – x
multiply 0.8 × 20 1×x 0.70(20 – x)

Step 4: Since the water is removed, we need to subtract

original – removed = result

0.8 × 20 – 1 × x = 0.70(20 – x)
16 – x = 14 – 0.7x

Isolate variable x
x – 0.7x = 16 – 14
0.3x = 2

Answer: He should evaporate 6.67 ounces of water.

Rate Problem
1)
A bus traveling at an average rate of 50 kilometers per hour made the trip to town in 6 hours. If it
had traveled at 45 kilometers per hour, how many more minutes would it have taken to make the
trip?
Solution:
Step 1: Set up a rtd table.

r t d

Case 1      

Case 2      

Step 2: Fill in the table with information given in the question.

A bus traveling at an average rate of 50 kilometers per hour made the trip to town in 6 hours. If it
had traveled at 45 kilometers per hour, how many more minutes would it have taken to make the
trip?

Let t = time to make the trip in Case 2.

r t d

Case 1 50 6  

Case 2 45 t  

Step 3: Fill in the values for d using the formula d = rt

r t d

Case 1 50 6 50 × 6 = 300
Case 2 45 t 45t

Step 4: Since the distances traveled in both cases are the same, we get the equation:

45t = 300

Isolate variable t

Step 5: Beware - the question asked for “how many more minutes would it have taken to make
the trip”, so we need to deduct the original 6 hours taken.
Answer: The time taken would have been 40 minutes longer.

2) A bus and a car leave the same place and traveled in opposite directions. If the bus is
traveling at 50 mph and the car is traveling at 55 mph, in how many hours will they be 210 miles
apart?

Solution:
Step 1: Set up a rtd table.

r t d

bus      

car      

Step 2: Fill in the table with information given in the question.

If the bus is traveling at 50 mph and the car is traveling at 55 mph, in how many hours will they
be 210 miles apart?

Let t = time when they are 210 miles apart.

r t d

bus 50 t  

car 55 t  

Step 3: Fill in the values for d using the formula d = rt

r t d

bus 50 t 50t
car 55 t 55t

Step 4: Since the total distance is 210, we get the equation:

50t + 55t = 210

105t = 210

Isolate variable t
Answer: They will be 210 miles apart in 2 hours.