math word problems

Eleven plus forty-one is divided by a number. If the result is 13, what's the number? A. 2 B. 4 C. 6 D. 8

4

If 4 people can run 8 machines, how many machines can 2 people run? A. 2 B. 4 C. 1 D. 3

4 Two people is 1/2 as many as 4 people: 2 ÷ 4 = 1/2. Multiply the number of machines 4 people can run by 1/2 to determine how many machines 2 people can run: 8 × 1/2 = 4.

A bricklayer charges $8 per square foot to lay a patio. How much would it cost for the bricklayer to lay a 12-foot-x-16-foot patio? A. $960 B. $192 C. $224 D. $1,536

$1,536 First determine the square footage of the patio: 12 feet × 16 feet = 192 square feet. Then multiply this number by the cost per square foot to determine what the brick layer charges: 192 × $8 = $1,536.

A baker sells a dozen donuts for $3.99. The cost to make three donuts is $0.45. How much is the total profit on 5-dozen donuts? A. $17.70 B. $13.20 C. $2.19 D. $10.95

$10.95 Multiply $0.45 (the cost of making 3 donuts) by 4 to find the cost of making a dozen donuts: $0.45 × 4 = $1.80. Then multiply the cost of making a dozen donuts by 5 to determine the cost per 5 dozen: $1.80 × 5 = $9.00. Next, multiply the selling price per dozen times 5, the number of dozens sold: $3.95 × 5 = $19.95. Finally subtract the cost of making 5-dozen donuts from the price the baker sells them for to determine the profit: $19.95 $9.00 = $10.95.

A computer programmer is making $25,000 per year. 28% of her salary is withheld for federal and state deductions. How much is the computer programmer's net pay? A. $20,000 B. $7,000 C. $18,750 D. $18,000

$18,000 Calculate the amount of the deduction by multiplying her salary by the percent deducted: $25,000 × 28% = $25,000 × 0.28 = $7,000. Subtract that product from the salary to determine the net pay: $25,000 $7,000 = $18,000.

A personal trainer earns a 65% commission on her training sales. If she sells $530.00 worth of training, how much commission does she make? A. $874.50 B. $34.45 C. $344.50 D. $185.50

$344.50 Multiply her total sales by her percent commission to find her commission: $530.00 × 0.65 = $344.50.

Terry earns three times more per hour than Tim. Tim earns $2 more per hour than Angie. As a group they earn $43 per hour. What's Angie's hourly wage? A. $7.00 B. $8.00 C. $9.00 D. $10.00

$7.00 Let x equal Angie's hourly wage.x+ 2 would then represent Tim's hourly wage, and 3(x+ 2) would represent Terry's hourly wage. x+ (x+2) + 3(x+2) = 43 x+x+ 2 + 3x+ 6 = 43 5x+ 8 = 43 5x= 35 x= 35/5 x= 7

Theresa bought 5 karaoke CDs on sale. A karaoke CD normally costs $24, but she was able to purchase the CDs for $22.50 each. How much money did Theresa save on her entire purchase? A. $7.50 B. $1.50 C. $8.00 D. $22.50

$7.50 Subtract the sale price from the regular price: $24.00 $22.50 = $1.50. Multiply the remainder by the number of CDs to get your answer: $1.50 × 5 = $7.50.

Mark received an hourly wage of $9.25. His boss gave him a 4% raise. How much does Mark make per hour now? A. $9.29 B. $9.62 C. $9.89 D. $9.99

$9.62 To calculate the new wage, start off by taking $9.25 × 0.04 = $0.37. Then add that number (the amount of Mark's raise) to his original hourly wage. Mark's new hourly wage is $9.25 + $0.37 = $9.62.

Janet is trying to watch her weight. A 1/2 cup of pudding has 150 calories. The same amount of broccoli has 60 calories. How much broccoli can Janet eat to equal the same number of calories in the 1/2 cup of pudding? A. 2 cups B. 2 and 1/2 cups C. 1 and 1/2 cups D. 1 and 1/4 cups

1 and 1/4 Divide the number of calories in the pudding by the number of calories in the broccoli: 150 ÷ 60 = 2 and 1/2. Janet can eat 2 and 1/2 times the amount of broccoli as she can eat pudding for the same number of calories. Multiply 2 and 1/2 by 1/2 cup (the amount of pudding that contains 150 calories) to find how many cups of broccoli she can eat for 150 calories: 2.5 × 0.5 = 1.25 or 1 and 1/4 cups.

Pam cuts a pie in half in a straight line. She then cuts a line from the center to the edge, creating a 55- degree angle. What's the supplement of that angle? A. 55 degrees B. 125 degrees C. 70 degrees D. 130 degrees

125 degrees When the sum of two angles is 180 degrees, the angles are said to be supplemental to each other. To find the supplement, subtract 55 from 180 (180 55 = 125).

A rectangle has a perimeter of 36 inches. It's length is 3 inches greater than twice the width. What's the rectangle's length? A. 5 inches B. 13 inches C. 18 inches D. 20 inches

13 inches A rectangle's perimeter is determined by the formula P= 2(l +w). The length of this rectangle is 3 + 2w. Substituting the known values into the formula results in 36 = 2(w+ 3 + 2w). 36 = 2(3w+ 3) 18 = 3w+ 3 15 = 3w w= 5 As the length is 3 + 2w, then l = 3 + 2(5), or l = 13.

A plumber needs four lengths of pipe, each 3-feet, 6-inches long. Pipes are sold by the foot. How many feet does he need to buy? A. 15 B. 16 C. 14 D. 12

14 Convert the pipe length to inches: 3 feet, 6 inches = 42 inches. Multiply 42 inches by the number of pipes needed to find the number of inches of pipe needed: 42 × 4 = 168. Divide the total amount of pipe needed in inches by 12 to determine how many feet of pipes are needed: 168 ÷ 12 = 14.

A treasure map is drawn to a scale of 2 inches = 3 miles. On the map, the distance between Point A and X-marks-the-spot is 91/2 inches. How many actual miles does this represent? A. 28 and 1/2miles B. 14 and 1/4miles C. 6 and 1/3miles D. 19 miles

14 and 1/4miles If 2 inches = 3 miles, then 1 inch equals 11/2miles: 3 ÷ 2 = 1.5. Multiply 11/2miles × 91/2inches to determine the actual distance: 1.5 × 9.5 = 14.25 or 14 and 1/4miles

A bin of hard candy holds 101/2 pounds. How many 3/4-pound boxes of candy can be filled from the bin? A. 30 boxes B. 151/4 boxes C. 77/8 boxes D. 14 boxes

14 boxes Divide 101/2 by 3/4. You can perform this operation by multiplying 10 1/2 by the inverse of 3/4: 101/2 × 4/3 = 21/2 × 4/3 = 84/6. This fraction, reduced, becomes 14.

Rafael can type 9 pages an hour. How long will it take him to type 126 pages? A. 14 hours B. 9 hours C. 7 hours D. 16 hours

14 hours Divide the total number of pages to be typed by the number of pages Rafael can type per hour to find the number of hours it will take him to type the pages: 126 pages ÷ 9 pages per hour = 14 hours

In a 60-minute gym class, 40 girls want to play volleyball, but only 10 can play at a time. For each player to get the same amount of playing time, how many minutes should each person play? A. 11/2minutes B. 6 minutes C. 30 minutes D. 15 minutes

15 minutes Divide the group of 40 girls by the number of girls who can play at the same time: 40 ÷ 10 = 4. This means 4 groups of girls have to share the 60 minutes or 60 minutes ÷ 4 = 15 minutes. Thus, each girl plays for 15 minutes.

The neighbor's dog barks at a squirrel every 15 minutes at night. If he first barks at 10 p.m., when you're trying to fall asleep, how many times will he bark by 2 a.m., when you give up trying to sleep and decide to read a book instead? A. 16 times B. 132 times C. 17 times D. 15 times

17 times The time between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. is 4 hours or 240 minutes. Divide the total number of minutes in the time period by 15 minutes -- the interval that the dog barks. Then add 1 because the dog started barking at the beginning of the period: (240 ÷ 15) + 1 = 17

Amy wants to fence in a yard using 400 feet of fencing. If she wants the yard to be 30-feet wide, how long will it be? A. 170 feet B. 175 feet C. 180 feet D. 185 feet

170 The formula used to determine the perimeter of a rectangle is P= 2(L+W). The width is 30, and the parameter is 400. 400 = 2(L+ 30) 400 = 2L+ 60 340 = 2L L= 170

Three apples and twice as many pears add up to one-half the number of grapes in a fruit basket. How many grapes are in the basket? A.8 B.18 C.28 D.38

18 3 times 6 becasue there are twice as many pears so theres 6 pears

A stack of lumber is 6-feet high. If each piece of lumber is 4-inches thick, how many pieces of lumber are in the stack? A. 72 B. 12 C. 18 D. 10

18 Multiply the height of the stack in feet by 12 to determine the height of the stack in inches: 6 × 12 = 72 inches. Divide that number by 4 inches, the thickness of each board to determine the number of pieces of lumber in the stack: 72 ÷ 4 = 18.

The product of twC. nsecutive odd numbers is 399. What are the numbers? A. 17 and 19 B. 19 and 21 C. 21 and 23 D. 25 and 27

19 and 21 The fastest way to solve this would be to simply multiply the possible choices together (19 × 21 = 399). You can also solve this with algebra also

How many pounds of nails costing $7 per pound must be mixed with 6 pounds of nails costing $3 per pound to yield a mixture costing $4 per pound? A. 2 pounds B. 2.5 pounds C. 3 pounds D. 3.5 pounds

2 pounds Let x= number of nails costing $7 per pound. The total cost of the mixture equals the sum of the cost for each type of nail or M=A+B, where A= 7x,B= 3(6), andM= 4(6 +x). Substitute the known values into the equation. 4(6 +x) = 7x+ 18. 24 + 4x= 7x+ 18 24 18 = 7x 4x 3x= 6 x= 2

A patio measures 12 feet by 14 feet. How many 8-inch-square paving stones are needed to pave the patio? A. 21 B. 252 C. 32 D. 168

252 First multiply length × width to determine the area of the patio: 12 feet × 14 feet = 168 square feet. Next determine the area in square inches that needs to be covered: 168 square feet × 12 inches = 2,016 square inches. Finally, divide that answer by the size of the stones to determine the number of stones needed: 2,016 ÷ 8 = 252.

A rectangle is one inch longer than it is wide. Its diameter is five inches. What's the width of the rectangle? A. 2 inches B. 3 inches C. 4 inches D. 5 inches

3 inches

A 3-yard-long ribbon was used to trim four dresses. Each dress used the same amount of ribbon. How much ribbon was used for each dress? A. 1 yard B. 2/3 yard C. 1/2 yard D. 3/4 yard

3/4 yard Convert the measurement to inches: 1 yard = 36 inches; 36 inches × 3 = 108 inches. Divide the total number of inches by the number of dresses being trimmed to determine the length of each piece of ribbon: 108 inches ÷ 4 = 27 inches. Convert the quotient (27 inches) to a fraction of a yard: 27/36 = 27 ÷ 36 = 75% = 3/4 of a yard.

A rectangle is 11/2 times as long as it is wide. The perimeter of the rectangle is 100 inches. What's the length of the rectangle? A. 20 inches B. 30 inches C. 40 inches D. 45 inches

30 inches The formula for the perimeter of a rectangle isP= 2L+ 2W. In this case,P= 100 and L= 1.5W. 100 = 2(1.5W) + 2W 100 = 3W+ 2W 100 = 5W W= 100/5 W= 20. The width of the rectangle is 20 inches. Because the length is 11/2 the width, 1.5 × 20 = 30.

If a barber is capable of cutting the hair of 35 people per day, and he works 7 days per week, how many haircuts could he give during the months of April, May, and June? A. 3185 B. 3150 C. 2545 D. 2555

3185 There are 30 days in April, 31 days in May, and 30 days in June for a total of 91 days. 91 × 35 = 3185.

Your piggy bank contains $19.75 in dimes and quarters. There are 100 coins in all. How many dimes are there? A. 25 B. 30 C. 35 D. 40

35 Let x equal the number of dimes. Then 100 x represents the number of quarters. There is $0.10x in dimes and $0.25(100 x) in quarters. 0.10x+ 0.25(100 x) = 19.75 0.10x+ 25 0.25x= 19.75 0.15x= 5.25 x= 5.25/0.15 x= 35

21 students, or 60% of the class, passed the final exam. How many students are in the class? A. 45 B. 40 C. 35 D. 30

35 Let x= the number of people in the class. 60% of x= 21, so 0.60x= 21.x= 35.

On a trip to the beach you travel 200 miles in 300 minutes. How fast did you travel? A. 30 mph B. 40 mph C. 50 mph D. 60 mph

40 mph First convert the 300 minutes to hours by dividing by 60 (300 ÷ 60 = 5 hours). Use the distance formula (d=rt) and substitute the known values. 300 = 5r. r= 40.

Tom is flying a kite at the end of a 500-foot string. His friend Kathy is standing directly under the kite 300 feet away from Tom. How high is the kite flying? A. 300 feet B. 350 feet C. 400 feet D. 450 feet

400 feet Visualize a triangle, where the string represents the hypotenuse and the line between Tom and Kathy represents one of the legs. The Pythagorean theorem states that if one knows the length of two sides of a triangle, the length of the third side can be determined, using the formula a2 +b2 =c2. In this case, 3002 +b2 = 5002. 90,000 +b2= 250,000 b2= 250,000 90,000 b2= 160,000 b= 160,000 b= 400

Theodore has 20 baseball cards. He sells 1/4 of his cards to Tom, 1/3 of his cards to Larry, and his Mom accidentally throws away 1/6 of his cards. How many baseball cards does Theodore have left? A. 3/4 B. 15 C. 12 D. 5

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A back yard is 50 feet by 100 feet. What's its area? A. 150 square feet B. 500 square feet C. 2,500 square feet D. 5,000 square feet

5,000 square feet The area of a rectangle is the length × the width of the rectangle. 50 × 100 = 5,000

Joan invests $4,000 in an account that earns 3% simple interest. How much will Joan have in the account in 10 years? A. $4,500 B. $4,800 C. $5,200 D. $5,400

5,200 Use the interest formula (I=Prt) to determine the amount of interest earned, where the principle (P) is 4,000, the rate (r) is .03 (3%) and the time (t) is 10.I= 4,000 (.03)(10), or I= $1,200. Add the interest earned to the original amount invested. $4,000 + $1,200 = $5,200.

A dog trainer is building a dog run that measures 9 x 16 feet. If she wants to fence the perimeter of the run, how many feet of chain link fence will she need? A. 144 feet B. 25 feet C. 32 feet D. 50 feet

50 feet Calculate perimeter by adding the lengths of all four sides of a quadrilateral: 9 + 9 + 16 + 16 = 50 feet

A three-digit code must be used to access a computer file. The first digit must be an A or a B. The second digit must be a number between 0 and 9. The final digit is a single letter from the alphabet from A to Z. How many possible access codes can there be? A. 38 B. 468 C. 520 D. 640

520 There are 2 possibilities for the first digit (A or B), 10 possibilities for the second digit (0 to 9) and 26 possibilities for the third digit. Using the multiplication principle, 2 × 10 × 26 = 520

If you typed 45 words per minute, how many words would you be able to type in 12 minutes? A. 490 B. 540 C. 605 D. 615

540 Multiply the number of words you can type per minute (45) by the number of minutes you will be typing (12). 45 × 12 = 540.

The video-rental store charges $2.00 for the first day a rented video is overdue and $1.25 for each day after that. If a person paid $8.25 in late fees, how many days was the video overdue? A. 7 days B. 6 days C. 4 days D. 5 days

6 days Subtract the first day's late charge from the total: $8.25 $2.00 = $6.25. Then divide the remainder by $1.25 to determine the number of additional days the video was overdue: $6.25 ÷ $1.25 = 5. Add those 5 days to the first day the video was late, to find that the video was 6 days overdue

Sarah found a wallet containing $500 in the street. She returned the wallet to its owner, who gave her a $30 reward. What percentage of the $500 was the reward? A. 5% B. 6% C. 7% D. 4%

6% Divide $30 by $500 to determine the percentage of $500 that the reward comprised

A tanning-bed pass for unlimited tanning costs $53 per month this year, but it was only $50 per month last year. What was the percentage of increase? A. 5% B. 5.5% C. 6% D. 6.5%

6% The difference in the price is $3. $3 ÷ $50 = 0.06 or 6%

Eric is driving a car in which the speedometer is calibrated in kilometers per hour (kph). He notes that his car is traveling at a rate of 75 kph, when he passes a speed limit sign stating the limit is 40 miles per hour (mph). He knows that a kilometer is about 5/8 of a mile. If a police officer stops him at this point, how many mph over the limit will the ticket read? A. 5 B. 7 C. 9 D. 11

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The price of daily admission at an amusement park is $36. The park sells an unlimited season pass for $240. How many trips would you need to make with the season ticket in order for it tC. st less than paying the daily admission rate? A. 6 B. 7 C. 8 D. 9

7 Let x equal the number of daily tickets you would purchase. 36x= the daily ticket cost. 240 < 36x 240/36 <x 62/3 <x You would need to use the ticket more than 62/3 times (or 7 times) in order for it to be cheaper to use the season ticket.

Miguel passed seven of his history-class quizzes and failed three. The fraction of quizzes he passed is correctly expressed as: A. 7/3 B. 3/7 C. 7/10 D. 3/5

7/10 The total number of quizzes is 10. If he passed seven of them, the fraction would be expressed as 7/10.

The sun is 93 million miles from Earth and light travels at a rate of 186,000 miles per second. How long does it take for light from the sun to reach the Earth? A. 5 minutes B. 6 and 1/2 minutes C. 7 minutes D. 8 and 1/2 minutes

8 and 1/2 minutes

A painter has painted a picture on a piece of canvas that measures 10 x 14 inches. In order to accommodate a frame, he has left an un-painted margin of 1 inch all the way around. What part of the canvas has been painted? A. 80% B. 75% C. 25% D. 66%

80% The area of the entire piece of canvas = 10 inches × 14 inches = 140 square inches. The portion painted on equals 8 inches × 12 inches = 112 square inches. (This is determined by subtracting 1 inch from the length of each side to account for the margin.) The portion used for painting can be expressed as a fraction: 112/140. Reduce this fraction (divide 112 by 140) to determine that 80% of the canvas is covered with paint