Exam 5: Solving for the Unknown: a How to Approach to Solving Equations

Variables and constants are terms of mathematical expressions.

B - 6 represents Bob's age six years ago.

Lane is 10 times Mel's age. If the difference in their age is 27, how old is Mel?

What number increased by 3,080 equals 5,082?

C + 100 = 55; C equals:

Q + 92 = 128; Q equals:

An equation represents a math expression of equality.

B - 11 = 40; B = 29.

Kohl's sells casual shirts for $9 and polo shirts for $18.00. Total sales were $1,080, and customers bought 4 times as many casual as polo shirts. How many casual shirts did Kohl's sell?

B/8 = 90; B equals:

Melons cost $20 per crate, and apples cost $8 per crate. An order comes in for a total of 48 crates for $420. What was the number of crates of melons and apples? (Let crates of melons = M.)

Jill Co. sells thermometers ($2) and hot water bottles ($6). If total sales were $312 and customers bought 10 times as many thermometers as hot water bottles, what would be the number of hot water bottles sold?

N/8 + 6 = 58; N equals:

If there are two unknowns, the variable is always assigned to the larger value.

Andy Foll is 6 times as old as Mel Kaas. Andy is 15 years older than Mel. What is Mel's age?

Mike and Bill sell cars for Jangle's Auto. Over the past year they sold 640 cars. Assuming Mike sells 3 times as many as Bill, how many cars did Mike sell?

An equation is:

Al Resse and Marci Rey received a total of $210,000 from a deceased relative's estate. They decided to put away $50,000 in a trust for their child and divide the remainder into 1/4 for Marci and 3/4 for Al. How much will Al receive?

More than one unknown in a word problem can be represented in terms of the same variable assigned to first unknown.

Wrenches cost $50 per carton, and hammers cost $150 per carton. If an order comes in for a total of 60 cartons for $5,000, what was the number of cartons of wrenches as well as hammers? (Hint: Let cartons of hammers = H.)