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COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
Age problems are algebra word problems that deal with the ages
of people currently, in the past or in the future.
If the problem involves a single person, then it is similar to an
Integer Problem. Read the problem carefully to determine the
relationship between the numbers. This is shown in the following
example involving a single person.
If the age problem involves the ages of two or more people then
using a table would be a good idea. A table will help you to
organize the information and to write the equations.
Isolate variable x
2
age in 5 yrs
John
Peter
Alice
Step 2: Fill in the table with information given in the question.
John is twice as old as his friend Peter. Peter is 5 years older than Alice. In 5
years, John will be three times as old as Alice. How old is Peter now?
Let x be Peters age now. Add 5 to get the ages in 5 yrs.
age now
age in 5 yrs
John
2x
2x + 5
Peter
x+5
Alice
x5
x5+5
2x + 5 = 3(x 5 + 5)
2x + 5 = 3x
Isolate variable x
x=5
Answer: Peter is now 5 years old.
Example 5:
Johns 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
Johns
father
John
Alice
Step 2: Fill in the table with information given in the question.
Johns 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 Johns age now. Add 2 to get the ages in 2 yrs.
Johns father
John
age now
age in 2 yrs
5x
x
5x + 2
x+2
Alice
Write the new relationship in an equation using the ages in 2 yrs.
5
Example1 :
The average (arithmetic mean) of a list of 6 numbers is 20. If we remove one
of the numbers, the average of the remaining numbers is 15. What is the
number that was removed?
Solution:
Step 1: The removed number could be obtained by difference between the
sum of original 6 numbers and the sum of remaining 5 numbers i.e.
sum of original 6 numbers sum of remaining 5 numbers
Step 2: Using the formula
Example2:
John drove for 3 hours at a rate of 50 miles per hour and for 2 hours at 60
miles per hour. What was his average speed for the whole journey?
Solution:
Step 1: The formula for distance is
Distance = Rate Time
Total distance = 50 3 + 60 2 = 270
Step 2: Total time = 3 + 2 = 5
Step 3: Using the formula
10
11
x =ones digit
3x =tens digit
12
13
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 55mph, in how
many hours will they be 210 miles apart?
Let t = time when they are 210 miles apart.
r
bus
50
car
55
bus
50
50t
car
55
55t
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Case 1
Case 2
Step 2: Fill in the table with information given in the question.
John took a drive to town at an average rate of 40 mph. In the evening, he
drove back at 30 mph. If he spent a total of 7 hours traveling, what is the
distance traveled by John?
Let t = time to travel to town.
15
Case 1
40
Case 2
30
7t
Case 1
40 t
40t
Case 2
30 7 t 30(7 t)
Step 4: Since the distances traveled in both cases are the same, we get the
equation:
40t = 30(7 t)
Use distributive property
40t = 210 30t
Isolate variable t
40t + 30t = 210
70t = 210
16
With
x+y
5 (x+y)
Against
x-y
5.5
5.5 (x-y)
17
Step 2:
5 (x+y) = 2750
x + y = 550
5
5.5 (x-y) = 2750
x y = 500
5.5
Step 3: add the two equations to cancel out one variable.
(x + y = 550) + (x y = 500)
2x = 1050
x= 525
So, the Planes speed is 525km/h
And the wind is 25km/h
Example4:
Traveling downstream, Elmo can go 6 km in 45 minutes. On the return trip,
it takes him 1,5 hours. What is the boat's speed in still water and what is the
rate of the current?
Solution:
Let x= Boats speed
y= current
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With
x+y
3/4
3/4 (x+y)
Against
x-y
1.5
3/2 (x-y)
[ ( x+y) = 6] 4/3
x+y=8
xy=4
(x+y=8) + (x-y=4)
2x = 12
x=6
Step 4: SUBSTITUTE THE VALUE OF X IN THE EQUATION
x+y=8
6+y=8
y=2
So, the boats speed is 6km/hr and the water is 2km/hr.
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Example5:
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
Case 1
Case 2
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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
Case 1
50
Case 2
45
Case 1
50
50 6 = 300
Case 2
45
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.
Example6 :
John took a drive to town at an average rate of 40 mph. In the evening, he
drove back at 30 mph. If he spent a total of 7 hours traveling, what is the
distance traveled by John?
Solution:
Step 1: Set up a rtd table.
r
Case 1
Case 2
Case 1
40
40t
Case 2
30
7t
30(7 t)
Step 4: Since the distances traveled in both cases are the same, we get the
equation:
40t = 30(7 t)
Use distributive property
40t = 210 30t
Isolate variable t
40t + 30t = 210
70t = 210
23
24
25
added
result
concentration
amount
added
result
concentration
0.2
0.25
amount
20
20 + x
26
added
result
concentration
0.2
0.25
Amount
20
20 + x
Multiply
0.2 20
1x
0.25(20 + x)
ounces of salt
27
removed
Result
concentration
Amount
removed result
concentration
0.8
0.7
amount
20
20 x
28
removed
result
concentration
0.8
0.7
amount
20
20 x
multiply
0.8 20
1x
0.70(20 x)
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removed
added
result
concentration
0.15
0.15
0.8
0.7
amount
10
10
30
result
concentration 0.15
0.15
0.8
0.7
amount
10
10
multiply
0.15 10
0.15 x
0.8 x
0.7 10
Step 4: Since the alcohol solution is replaced, we need to subtract and add.
original removed + added = result
0.15 10 0.15 x + 0.8 x = 0.7 10
1.5 0.15x + 0.8x = 7
Isolate variable x
0.8x 0.15x = 7 1.5
0.65x = 5.5
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added
result
cost
amount
Step 2: Fill in the table with information given in the question.
How many pounds of chocolate worth $1.20 a pound must be mixed
with 10 pounds of chocolate worth 90 cents a pound to produce a mixture
worth $1.00 a pound?
Let x = amount of chocolate added.
original
added
result
cost
0.9
1.2
amount
10
x + 10
original
added
result
cost
0.9
1.2
amount
10
x + 10
multiply
0.9 10
1.2 x
1 (x + 10)
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i = prt
i represents the interest earned
p represents the principal which is the number of dollars invested
t represents the time the money is invested which is generally stated in
years or fractions of a year.
Formula for Amount
A=p+i
A represents what your investment is worth if you consider the total
amount of the original investment (p) and the interest earned (i)
Example1:
James needs interest income of $5,000. How much money must he invest
for one year at 7%? (Give your answer to the nearest dollar)
Solution:
5,000 = p(0.07)1
p = 71,428.57
He must invest $71,429
35
36
d = rt
where d = distance, r = rate and t = time.
When solving motion problems, a sketch is often helpful and a
table can be used for organizing the information.
Example1:
John and Philip who live 14 miles apart start at noon to walk toward each
other at rates of 3 mph and 4 mph respectively. In how many hours will
they meet?
Solution:
Let x = time walked.
r
John
3x
Philip
4x
3x + 4x = 14
7x = 14
x=2
They will meet in 2 hours.
37
Example2:
In still water, Peters boat goes 4 times as fast as the current in the river.
He takes a 15-mile trip up the river and returns in 4 hours. Find the rate of
the current.
Solution:
Let x = rate of the current.
r
down river
4x + x
15 / 5x
15
up river
4x - x
15 / 3x
15
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39
40
Solution:
Step 1: Write down the terms until you notice a repetition
2, 5, -5, - 2, 2, 5, -5, -2, ...
The sequence repeats after the fourth term.
Step 2: To find the 45th term, get the remainder for 45 4, which is 1
Step 3: The 45th term is the same as the 1st term, which is 2
Answer: The 45th term is 2.
Example2:
6, 13, 27, 55,
In the sequence above, each term after the first is determined by
multiplying the preceding term by m and then adding n. What is the value
of n?
Solution:
Method 1:
The fastest way to solve this would be if you notice that the pattern:
6 2 + 1 = 13
13 2 + 1 =27
Answer: The value of n is 1.
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Method 2:
If you were not able to see the pattern then you can come with two
equations and then solve for n.
6m + n =13
13m + n = 27
(equation 1)
(equation 2)
n=1
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For example,
If two pencils cost $1.50, how many pencils can you buy with $9.00?
The main difficulty with this type of question is to figure out which values
to divide and which values to multiply.
The following method is helpful:
Change the word problem into the form:
If x then y. If x is changed to a then what will be the value of y?
which can then be represented as:
44
For example,
You can think of the sentence:
If two pencils cost $1.50, how many pencils can you buy with $9.00?
as
If $1.50 then two pencils. If $9.00 then how many pencils?
Write the proportional relationship:
Example 1:
Jane ran 100 meters in 15 seconds. How long did she take to run 1 meter?
Step 1: Think of the word problem as:
If 100 then 15. If 1 then how many?
Step 2: Write the proportional relationship:
45
If
Answer: He traveled
miles.
46
Example4:
It takes 4 men 6 hours to repair a road. How long will it take 7 men to do
the job if they work at the same rate?
Step 1: Think of the word problem as:
If 4 then 6. If 7 then how many?
Step 2: Write out the inverse relationship:
hours.
47
48
Isolate variable x
Example 2:
John has 30 marbles, 18 of which are red and 12 of which are
blue. Jane has 20 marbles, all of them either red or blue. If the
ratio of the red marbles to the blue marbles is the same for both
John and Jane, then John has how many more blue marbles
than Jane?
Solution:
Step 1: Sentence: Jane has 20 marbles, all of them either red or
blue.
Assign variables:
Let x = blue marbles for Jane
20 x = red marbles for Jane
We get the ratio from John
John has 30 marbles, 18 of which are red and 12 of which are
blue.
49
Direct Variation
There are many situations in our daily lives that involve direct
variation.
For example, a worker may be paid according to the number of
hours he worked. The two quantities x (the number of hours
worked) and y (the amount paid) are related in such a way that
when x changes, y changes proportionately such that the
ratio remains a constant.
We say that y varies directly with x. Let us represent the
constant by k, i.e.
or y = kx where k 0
If y varies directly as x, this relation is written as y
as y varies as x. The sign
the sign of variation.
x and read
Example3:
If y varies directly as x and given y = 9 when x = 5, find:
the equation connecting x and y
the value of y when x = 15
the value of x when y = 6
Solution:
a) y
50
y=
y=
= 27
Example4:
The cost of a taxi fare (C) varies directly as the distance (D) travelled.
When the distance is 60 km, the cost is $35. Find the cost when the
distance is 95 km.
Solution:
i.e. C = kD, where k is a constant.
Substitute C = 35 and D = 60 into the equation
35 = 60k k =
Therefore, C =
55.42
Solution:
Answer: In other words, the longer the length l or the height h, the
narrower is the width w.
Example 6: A quantity varies directly as one quantity and inversely as
another.
The speed, s, of a moving object varies directly as the distance travelled, d,
and varies inversely as the time taken, t. Express s as a joint variation in
terms of d and t.
52
Solution:
Answer: In other words, the longer the distance or the shorter the time,
the faster is the speed.
Example7:
Suppose that y varies inversely as x and that y = 8 when x = 3.
a) Form an equation connecting x and y.
b) Calculate the value of y when x = 10.
Solution:
53
Example:
Suppose that y varies inversely as x 2 and that y = 10 when x =
54
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This formula can be extended for more than two persons. It can
also be used in problems that involve pipes filling up a tank.
Example 1:
Peter can mow the lawn in 40 minutes and John can mow the lawn in 60
minutes. How long will it take for them to mow the lawn together?
Solution:
Step 1: Assign variables:
Let x = time to mow lawn together
Step 2: Use the formula:
56
Answer: The time taken for both of them to mow the lawn together is 24
minutes.
57
Answer: The time taken for Peter to paint the fence alone is
hours.
58
hours.
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