ALGEBRA

VERBAL PROBLEMS/ APPLICATIONS

MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA

Our discussion of verbal/word problems will
include the following:
• number problems
• digits problems
• age problems
• coin/money problems
• geometry problems
• work problems
• mixture problems
• investment problems
• distance – rate – time problems
• miscellaneous problems

MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA

NUMBER / DIGITS PROBLEMS:
1. Find three consecutive odd integers whose
sum is 159.
2. One number is 15 less than the twice the
other. If their sum is 75, what is the bigger
number?
3. The sum of the numerator and the
denominator of a fraction is 26. If the
numerator is decreased by 1 and the
denominator is multiplied by two, the
resulting fraction becomes 1/3. Find the
original fraction.

MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA

NUMBER / DIGITS PROBLEMS:
4. The sum of the digits of the two digit
number is 8. If the tens digit is increased
by five and the units digit is increased by
two, the new number is thrice the
original. Find the original number.
5. The sum of the digits of a two digit
number is 10. If the digits are reversed,
the new number is 36 more than the
original. Find the original number.

MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA

AGE PROBLEM:
1. A father is four times as old as his
daughter. In six years, he will be three
times as old as she is. How old is the
daughter now?
2. Johnny’s father is twice as old as him.
After twenty years, the sum of their age
will be a century. How old is Johnny now?

MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA

SEATWORK: (8 ½ X 11)
1. Two numbers differ by 50. If the larger number is
diminished by 13 and the smaller is increased by 7, then
the bigger becomes twice the smaller. Find the
numbers.
2. The sum of the numerator and denominator of a
fraction is 72. If the numerator is decreased by 6 and
the denominator is increased by 4, the result is 5/9.
Find the fraction.
3. The sum of the digits of a two digit number is 16, where
the units digit is smaller than the tens digit. If the digits
are reversed, the difference of the new number and
original is 18. Find the original number.
4. Sally has a daughter whose age is 1/3 of her age now.
Six years from now, their ages are just in the ratio 11: 5.
Find her daughter’s age now.
MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA
GEOMETRY PROBLEMS:
1. The width of a rectangular lot is 5 m less than its
length. If the perimeter of the lot is 54 meters, find
the dimension of the lot.
2. The smallest side of a triangle is 1/5 of the
perimeter. The biggest side is 5 cms more than
twice the smallest. If the third side is 15 cms, find
the perimeter of the triangle.
3. A one-meter walkway surrounds a certain
rectangular garden whose width is 4 m less than its
length. The ratio of the perimeters of the
rectangular garden to that of the garden and
walkway combined is 4:5. Find the dimension of
the garden.

MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA

WORK PROBLEMS:
1. Ronnie and Nathan share the same paper route. If
Ronnie can deliver the paper in 3 hours while
Nathan can deliver the paper is 4 hours, find the
time required for them to finish the job if they work
together.
2. Harry and Harvin are given a painting job. If they
work together, they can finish it in one week. If
Harry is twice as fast as Harvin, how many days will
it take Harvin to finish the job if he works alone.
3. One pipe can fill a certain tank in 40 minutes while
another pipe can empty the tank in 1 hour. If the
tank is half full and the two pipes were
simultaneously left open, how many minutes will it
take to fill the tank?

MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA

COIN/MONEY PROBLEMS:
1. A purse contains equal number of 10-
peso, 5-peso and one peso coins. If the
total amount in the purse is 112, how
many coins of each kind are there?
2. In a coin purse, there are twice as many
dimes as nickels and thrice as many
quarters as nickels. If the total number of
coins is 18, how much does the coin purse
contains?

MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA

SEATWORK: (8 ½ X 11)
1. The length of a certain rectangular lot is 7 ft more
than its width. If the perimeter of the lot is 34 ft,
find the area of the lot.
2. Verge and Val were commissioned to do a plumbing
job. Working alone, Val can finish the job in 4 hours
while Verge can accomplish it in 6 hours. If Verge
has started working for one hour before Val joined
him, how many additional hours will it take them to
finish the job?
3. Mary has $3.00 in nickels, dimes and quarters. If
she has twice as many dimes as quarters and five
more nickels than dimes, how many coins of each
type does she have?

MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA

INVESTMENT PROBLEMS:
1. Pia invested Php120,000 , a portion earning
a simple rate of interest of 4 ½ % per year
and the rest earning a rate of 4 % per year.
After one year the total interest earned on
these investments was Php 5250. How much
money did she invest at each rate?
2. If Ben invests 40,000 at 4% interest per year,
how much additional money must he invest
at 5 ½ % annual interest to ensure that the
interest he receives each year is 4 ½ % of the
total amount invested?

MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA

 MIXTURE PROBLEMS:
1. What quantity of a 60% acid solution must be mixed with a
30% solution to produce 300 mL of a 50% solution?
2. A bottle contains 750 mL of fruit punch with a
concentration of 50% fruit juice. Jenny drinks 100 mL of the
punch and then refills the bottle with an equal amount of a
cheaper brand of punch. If the concentration of juice in the
bottle is now reduced to 48%, what was the concentration
in the punch that Jill added?
3. The radiator in a car is filled with a solution of 60%
antifreeze. The manufacturer of the antifreeze suggests
that, for summer driving, optimal cooling of the engine is
obtained with only 50% antifreeze. If the capacity of the
radiator is 3.6L, how much coolant should be drained and
replaced with water to reduce the antifreeze concentration
to the recommended level?

MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA

 UNIFORM MOTION PROBLEMS:
1. Two cyclists, 90 mi apart, start riding toward each
other at the same time. One cycles twice as fast as the
other. If they meet 2 hours later, at what average speed
is each cyclist traveling?
2. A pilot flew a jet from Montreal to Los Angeles, a
distance of 2500 mi. On the return trip the average
speed was 20% faster than the outbound speed. The
round-trip took 11 hours. What was the speed from
Montreal to Los Angeles?
3. Karen can row a boat 10 kilometers per hour in still
water. In a river where the current is 5 kilometers per
hour, it takes her 4 hours longer to row a given
distance upstream than to travel the same distance
downstream. Find how long it takes her to row
upstream and how long to row downstream.
MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA
SEATWORK: (8 ½ X 11)
1. Celerina invested in two accounts: one earning 5% per
year and another earning 6½ % per year. If her total
initial investment of 120,000 earns 7,200 after a year,
how much did she invest on each?
2. A pot contains 6L of brine(salt solution) at a
concentration of 120 g/L. How much of the water
should be boiled off to increase the concentration to
200 g/L?
3. Two college buddies who live in the same dormitory
went to their school which is 1 ½ kms away , one
walking while the other riding a bicycle. The one who
bikes rides thrice as fast as the one who walks. If the
one who walks arrives 6 minutes late than the one who
bikes, find the speed of the one who bikes.

MATH 10: COLLEGE ALGEBRA