Algebra Tutorial—WORD PROBLEMS

Word problems are easy to solve if you follow these three steps :
1 Read the problem at least twice; underline the key words that strike you or
appears tricky to you.
2 Translate the word statements into mathematical symbols and equations or
inequalities;.---that is ,set up equations or inequalities.
3 Think for a moment—get the mathematical procedure and proceed to solve the
problem.

Among these steps, the second step –translating word statements into math
language-- appears difficult. This tutorial with several examples will make this
process easy---at Algebra-1 level.
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Now let us start with examples:

1 Sarah is elder to John by 4 years. The sum of their ages is 26. Find the
ages of Sarah and John.
Here the ‘unknowns’ are Sarah’s age and John’s age Let us use
symbols ‘x’ and ‘y’ for these unknowns.
X ---the age of Sarah
Y --the age of John
Let us set up the equations.
The sum of their ages is 26. - X + Y = 26
Sarah is elder to John by 4 years.  X= Y + 4
Now we have two equations in two unknowns. Let us solve :
Substitute for x in the first equation: Y + 4 + Y = 26
2Y + 4 = 26
2Y = 22
Y + 11
X =15
Sarah is 15 years old and John ,11 years.

2 James counts the number of coins he has. He has nickels and dimes. The
total number of coins is 16. The total value of the coins is $1.20 How many
nickels and dimes James has?

Let the number of nickels be X

Let the number of dimes be Y
Then the total number of coins  X + Y = 16
Now let us take the value of the coins.
Since a nickel has a value of 5 cents and dime ,a value of 10 cents,
The ‘value equation” is : - 5X + 10 Y = 120
[$1.20 is equal to 120 cents.]
Let us solve the two equations to find x and y.
The first equation appears simple.We shall use that to substitute for Y.

1
 Y = 16 – X
Then the second equation becomes: 5X + 10 ( 16 –X) = 120
This is an equation in one variable –that is X.
Expand the second term using ‘Distributive property”:
5X + 160 – 10X = 120
-5X +160 = 120
-5X + 160 -160 = 120 – 160
-5X = -40
5X = 40
X =8 Since X +Y =16, Y=8
James has 8 nickels and 8 dimes.
Check: 5X + 10Y = 5x 8 + 10 x 8 = 120
3 A circus company charges $1 for each child and $3 for adults.The total
number of tickets sold in a particular day was 242. The manager counted
the total amount collected that day. The amount was $422. How many
children and how many adults visited the circus that day?
This is similar to the coin problem given earlier.
Let number of children tickets sold be X.
Let the number of adult tickets sold be Y
Total number of tickets: X + Y = 242
Value equation: X + 3 Y = 422
Let us subtract the second equation from the first:
- 2Y = - 180
- Y = -90
Y = 90
X + Y = 242
X = 152.
Check: X + 3Y = 152 + 3x90 = 422.
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For the following problems, we use some relationships or formulas from

geometry. To recall:
Area of a rectangle : A = length x width
Perimeter of a rectangle: P = 2 (length + width)
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4 Sarah pays at the rate of $2 for mowing a lawn of area 300 square feet.
She has a large lawn of 80 feet length and 30 feet width .How much she
has to pay for mowing her lawn once?
This problem has two parts:
First find the area of her lawn: A = length x width = 80 x 30 = 2400 sq feet.
The labor rate for mowing the lawn = $2 per 300 sqfeet.
Find the cost for mowing the lawn:
Cost = area /rate
Rate = 300 square feet for $2 or 300/2
Cost = 2400/ [300/2]
= [2400/300] x 2 = 8 x 2 =16 $