ALGEBRA

Example #1:

A football team lost 5 yards and then gained 9. What is the team's progress?

Solution

For lost, use negative. For gain, use positive.

Progress = -5 + 9 = 4 yards

Example #2:

Use distributive property to solve the problem below:

Maria bought 10 notebooks and 5 pens costing 2 dollars each.How much did Maria pay?

Solution

2 × (10 + 5) = 2 × 10 + 2 × 5 = 20 + 10 = 30 dollars

Example #3:

A customer pays 50 dollars for a coffee maker after a discount of 20 dollars

What is the original price of the coffee maker?

Solution

Let x be the original price.

x - 20 = 50

x - 20 + 20 = 50 + 20

x + 0 = 70

x = 70
 ALGEBRA
Example #1

Half a number plus 5 is 11.What is the number?

Solution

Let x be the number. Always replace "is" with an equal sign

(1/2)x + 5 = 11

(1/2)x + 5 - 5 = 11 - 5

(1/2)x = 6

2 × (1/2)x = 6 × 2

x = 12

Example #2

The sum of two consecutive even integers is 26. What are the two numbers?

Solution

Let 2n be the first even integer and let 2n + 2 be the second integer

2n + 2n + 2 = 26

4n + 2 = 26

4n + 2 - 2 = 26 - 2

4n = 24

n=6

So the first even integer is 2n = 2 × 6 = 12 and the second is 12 + 2 = 14

Below are more complicated algebra word problems

 ALGEBRA

Example #1

The ratio of two numbers is 5 to 1. The sum is 18. What are the two numbers?

Solution
Let x be the first number. Let y be the second number
x/y=5/1
x + y = 18
Using x / y = 5 / 1, we get x = 5y after doing cross multiplication
Replacing x = 5y into x + y = 18, we get 5y + y = 18
6y = 18
y=3
x = 5y = 5 × 3 = 15
As you can see, 15/3 = 5, so ratio is correct and 3 + 15 = 18, so the sum is correct.

Example #2: Algebra word problems can be as complicated as example #7. Study it
carefully!
Peter has six times as many dimes as quarters in her piggy bank. She has 21 coins in
her piggy bank totaling $2.55
How many of each type of coin does she have?

Solution
Let x be the number of quarters. Let 6x be the number of dimes
Since one quarter equals 25 cents, x quarters equals x × 25 cents or 25x cents
Since one dime equals 10 cents, 6x dimes equals 6x × 10 cents or 60x cents
Since one 1 dollar equals 100 cents, 2.55 dollars equals 2.55 × 100 = 255 cents
Putting it all together, 25x cents + 60x cents = 255 cents
85x cents = 255 cents
85x cents / 85 cents = 255 cents / 85 cents
x=3
6x = 6 × 3 = 18
Therefore Peter has 3 quarters and 18 dimes
 ALGEBRA

Example #1: A must know how when solving algebra word problems

The area of a rectangle is 24 cm2. The width is two less than the length. What
is the length and width of the rectangle?

Solution

Let x be the length and let x - 2 be the width

Area = length × width = x × ( x - 2) = 24

x × ( x - 2) = 24

x2 + -2x = 24

x2 + -2x - 24 = 0

Since -24 = 4 × -6 and 4 + -6 = -2, we get:

(x + 4) × ( x + -6) = 0

This leads to two equations to solve:

x + 4 = 0 and x + -6 = 0

x + 4 = 0 gives x = -4. Reject this value since a dimension cannot be negative

x + -6 = 0 gives x = 6

Therefore, length = 6 and width = x - 2 = 6 - 2 = 4

 ALGEBRA
Example #1:

The sum of two numbers is 16. The difference is 4. What are the two numbers?

Let x be the first number. Let y be the second number

x + y = 16

x-y=4

Solution

Let x be the first number. Let y be the second number

x + y = 16

x-y=4

Solve the system of equations by elimination

Adding the left sides and the right sides gives:

x + x + y + -y = 16 + 4

2x = 20

x = 10

Since x + y = 16, 10 + y = 16

10 + y = 16

10 - 10 + y = 16 - 10

y=6

The numbers are 10 and 6

The algebra word problems I solved above are typical questions. You will encounter
them a lot in algebra. Hope you had fun solving these algebra word problems.
 PROBABILITY
Example 1: What is the probability of getting a 2 or a 5 when a die is rolled?
Solution:
Taking the individual probabilities of each number, getting a 2 is 1/6 and so is
getting a 5.
Applying the formula of compound probability,
Probability of getting a 2 or a 5,
P(2 or 5) = P(2) + P(5) – P(2 and 5)
==> 1/6 + 1/6 – 0
==> 2/6 = 1/3.

Example 2: Consider the example of finding the probability of selecting a black

card or a 6 from a deck of 52 cards.
Solution:
We need to find out P(B or 6)
Probability of selecting a black card = 26/52
Probability of selecting a 6 = 4/52
Probability of selecting both a black card and a 6 = 2/52
P(B or 6) = P(B) + P(6) – P(B and 6)
= 26/52 + 4/52 – 2/52
= 28/52
= 7/13.
 PROBABILITY
Example 1: Say, a coin is tossed twice. What is the probability of
getting two consecutive tails ?
Probability of getting a tail in one toss = 1/2
The coin is tossed twice. So 1/2 * 1/2 = 1/4 is the answer.
Here’s the verification of the above answer with the help of sample
space.
When a coin is tossed twice, the sample space is {(H,H), (H,T),
(T,H), (T,T)}.
Our desired event is (T,T) whose occurrence is only once out of four
possible outcomes and hence, our answer is 1/4.

Example 2: Consider another example where a pack contains 4 blue,

2 red and 3 black pens. If a pen is drawn at random from the pack,
replaced and the process repeated 2 more times, What is the
probability of drawing 2 blue pens and 1 black pen?

Solution
Here, total number of pens = 9
Probability of drawing 1 blue pen = 4/9
Probability of drawing another blue pen = 4/9
Probability of drawing 1 black pen = 3/9
Probability of drawing 2 blue pens and 1 black pen = 4/9 * 4/9 * 3/9
= 48/729 = 16/243
 PROBABILITY
Example 1: A pack contains 4 blue, 2 red and 3 black pens. If 2 pens
are drawn at random from the pack, NOTreplaced and then another
pen is drawn. What is the probability of drawing 2 blue pens and 1
black pen?

Solution:
Probability of drawing 1 blue pen = 4/9
Probability of drawing another blue pen = 3/8
Probability of drawing 1 black pen = 3/7
Probability of drawing 2 blue pens and 1 black pen = 4/9 * 3/8 * 3/7
= 1/14

Let’s consider another example:

Example 2: What is the probability of drawing a king and a queen
consecutively from a deck of 52 cards, withoutreplacement.
Probability of drawing a king = 4/52 = 1/13
After drawing one card, the number of cards are 51.
Probability of drawing a queen = 4/51.
Now, the probability of drawing a king and queen consecutively is
1/13 * 4/51 = 4/663
 PROBABILITY
Example: In a class, 40% of the students study math and science. 60% of the
students study math. What is the probability of a student studying science
given he/she is already studying math?
Solution
P(M and S) = 0.40
P(M) = 0.60
P(S|M) = P(M and S)/P(S) = 0.40/0.60 = 2/3 = 0.67

Complement of an event
A complement of an event A can be stated as that which does NOT contain the
occurrence of A.
A complement of an event is denoted as P(Ac) or P(A’).
P(Ac) = 1 – P(A)
or it can be stated, P(A)+P(Ac) = 1
For example,
if A is the event of getting a head in coin toss, Ac is not getting a head i.e.,
getting a tail.
if A is the event of getting an even number in a die roll, Ac is the event of NOT
getting an even number i.e., getting an odd number.
if A is the event of randomly choosing a number in the range of -3 to 3, Ac is
the event of choosing every number that is NOT negative i.e., 0,1,2 & 3 (0 is
neither positive or negative).

Consider the following example:

 PROBABILITY
Example: A single coin is tossed 5 times. What is the probability of getting at
least one head?
Solution:
Consider solving this using complement.
Probability of getting no head = P(all tails) = 1/32
P(at least one head) = 1 – P(all tails) = 1 – 1/32 = 31/32.

Sample Probability questions with solutions

Probability Example 1
What is the probability of the occurrence of a number that is odd or less than 5
when a fair die is rolled.
Solution
Let the event of the occurrence of a number that is odd be ‘A’ and the event of
the occurrence of a number that is less than 5 be ‘B’. We need to find P(A or
B).
P(A) = 3/6 (odd numbers = 1,3 and 5)
P(B) = 4/6 (numbers less than 5 = 1,2,3 and 4)
P(A and B) = 2/6 (numbers that are both odd and less than 5 = 1 and 3)
Now, P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) – P(A or B)
= 3/6 + 4/6 – 2/6
P(A or B) = 5/6.
 PROBABILITY
A box contains 4 chocobars and 4 ice creams. Tom eats 3 of them, by
randomly choosing. What is the probability of choosing 2 chocobars and 1
icecream?
Solution
Probability of choosing 1 chocobar = 4/8 = 1/2
After taking out 1 chocobar, the total number is 7.
Probability of choosing 2nd chocobar = 3/7
Probability of choosing 1 icecream out of a total of 6 = 4/6 = 2/3
So the final probability of choosing 2 chocobars and 1 icecream = 1/2 * 3/7 *
2/3 = 1/7

Example
When two dice are rolled, find the probability of getting a greater number on
the first die than the one on the second, given that the sum should equal 8.
Solution
Let the event of getting a greater number on the first die be G.
There are 5 ways to get a sum of 8 when two dice are rolled =
{(2,6),(3,5),(4,4), (5,3),(6,2)}.
And there are two ways where the number on the first die is greater than the
one on the second given that the sum should equal 8, G = {(5,3), (6,2)}.
Therefore, P(Sum equals 8) = 5/36 and P(G) = 2/36.
Now, P(G|sum equals 8) = P(G and sum equals 8)/P(sum equals 8)
= (2/36)/(5/36)
= 2/5
 STATISTICS

In one state, 52% of the voters are Republicans, and 48% are Democrats. In
a second state, 47% of the voters are Republicans, and 53% are Democrats.
Suppose a simple random sample of 100 voters are surveyed from each
state.

What is the probability that the survey will show a greater percentage of
Republican voters in the second state than in the first state?

(A) 0.04 (B) 0.05 (C) 0.24 (D) 0.71 (E) 0.76

Solution

The correct answer is C. For this analysis, let P1 = the proportion of

Republican voters in the first state, P2 = the proportion of Republican voters
in the second state, p1 = the proportion of Republican voters in the sample
from the first state, and p2 = the proportion of Republican voters in the
sample from the second state. The number of voters sampled from the first
state (n1) = 100, and the number of voters sampled from the second state
(n2) = 100. less than zero. To find this probability, we need to transform the
random variable (p1 - p2) into a z-score. That transformation appears below.

zp 1 - p2 = (x - μ p
1 - p2 ) / σd = = (0 - 0.05)/0.0706 = -0.7082

Using Stat Trek's Normal Distribution Calculator, we find that the

probability of a z-score being -0.7082 or less is 0.24.

Therefore, the probability that the survey will show a greater percentage of
Republican voters in the second state than in the first state is 0.24.
STATISTICS
STATISTICS
STATISTICS
STATISTICS
STATISTICS