WORD PROBLEMS
with Answers
Chris McMullen, Ph.D.
Copyright 2020 Chris McMullen, Ph.D.
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All rights are reserved. However, educators or parents who purchase one copy of this workbook (or who borrow one physical copy from a library) may make and distribute photocopies of selected pages for instructional (non-commercial) purposes for their own students or children only.
Zishka Publishing
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-941691-54-0
Mathematics > Word Problems
Mathematics > Arithmetic
CONTENTS
EXAMPLES, TIPS & MORE
Are you looking for examples or problem-solving tips?
You can find examples and tips in the chapter entitled in the middle of the book.
Are you looking for specific types of problems?
You can find a in the back of the book.
Would you like to check your answers?
You can find an at the back of the book.
EXERCISES
Problem 1. Determine the ratio of vowels to consonants for this sentence.
Problem 2. In a game that kids made up, one elephant is worth 15 giraffes, one giraffe is worth 8 zebras, and one zebra is worth 6 aardvarks. How many aardvarks are 3 elephants worth?
Problem 3. A student read pages 17-22, 39-51, and 74-75 in a textbook. How many pages did the student read all together? Note: There is a trick to this question.
Problem 4. Two numbers have an average value of 139 and a difference of 84. What are the numbers?
Problem 5. Fred is three times as old as Bonnie. The sum of their ages in years is 36. How old is each person?
Problem 6. It is presently 1:08 p.m. Quentin has been driving for 75 minutes. What was the time when Quentin began driving?
Problem 7. A green rectangle has a height of three inches. An orange rectangle has twice the length of the green rectangle and six times the area of the green rectangle. What is the height of the orange rectangle?
Problem 8. Three out of every five students are wearing jackets today. If 45 students are wearing jackets, how many students are not wearing jackets?
Problem 9. If a butterfly flaps its wings 480 times per minute, how many times does the butterfly flap its wings in 12 seconds?
Problem 10. A boy travels with a constant speed of 5 m/s to the east for 24 seconds. The boy then travels 80 m to the north in 16 seconds. The boy then travels 120 m to the west with a constant speed of 3 m/s. The boy made one more trip, returning to his starting point two minutes after he began. How fast and in which direction did the boy travel in the trip that returned him to his starting point?
Problem 11. Three girls earned a total of $41 for doing yardwork. When the girls split the money equally among themselves, they discover that there is a remainder. How much money does each girl receive? What is the remainder?
Problem 12. Since last year, the value of a car diminished by $2700, corresponding to a 15% drop in value. What is the value of the car now?
Problem 13. Theresa has $10. Pencils cost 72 cents each. Erasers cost 14 cents each. There is no sales tax. Theresa buys as many pencils as she can afford. With the money that is left over, Theresa buys as many erasers as she can. How many pencils and how many erasers does Theresa buy? How much money will Theresa have left?
Problem 14. Eight people attend a meeting. When the meeting ends, every person shakes hands once with every other person. What is the total number of handshakes?
Problem 15. A pendulum takes 2.5 seconds to oscillate back and forth. How many times will the pendulum oscillate back and forth in one minute?
Problem 16. Two numbers have a sum of 67 and a difference of 29. What are the numbers?
Problem 17. Presently, Victor is three times as old as Maria. Ten years ago, Victor was seven times as old as Maria. How old is each person now?
Problem 18. Iris only has quarters and Oscar only has dimes. Oscar has three times as many dimes as Iris has quarters. The value of Oscars money is $2.25 more than the value of Iriss money. How many coins does each person have?
Problem 19. A rectangle measures 8 10. A man wishes to cover the rectangle with tiles that each measure 2 2. All measurements are in the same units. How many tiles does the man need?
Problem 20. How many different 5-character codes can be made using two Js, one Q, one 4, and one 8? An example of a valid code is 4JQ8J.
Problem 21. A wooden math puzzle costs $16 before sales tax and $17.36 after sales tax. What is the percent tax rate?
Problem 22. Initially, Natalie had 36 more binder clips than Claire. After Natalie gave one-third of her binder clips to Claire, Natalie had 16 fewer binder clips than Claire. How many binder clips did each girl have before and after?
Problem 23. Along a hallway, rooms are numbered counting by 4s from 140 thru 172. How many rooms are there?
Problem 24. A particular car can travel 45 miles along the highway on one gallon of gas. How far can the car travel along the highway on 14 gallons of gas?
Problem 25. In an experiment, when the pressure is 3 Pascals, the temperature is 240 Kelvin. When the pressure is 5 Pascals, the temperature is 400 Kelvin. When the pressure is 8 Pascals, the temperature is 640 Kelvin. Predict what the temperature will be when the pressure is 17 Pascals.
Problem 26. The sum of three consecutive odd numbers is five less than five hundred. What are the numbers?
Problem 27. A boy has two unusual dice. The unusual feature is that the sides are all odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11. If the two dice are fair, what is the likelihood that the numbers will have a sum equal to 10 when they are rolled?
Problem 28. In six years, Wendy will be twice as old as she had been eight years ago. How old is Wendy now?
Problem 29. What is 15% of 30% of 60?
Problem 30. A classroom has 141 calculators. A cabinet has several identical drawers. Each draw can hold 18 calculators. A teacher fills as many drawers as possible with the calculators and places the remaining calculators in the top drawer. How many calculators are in the top drawer?
Problem 31. A robotic cat and robotic mouse are initially at rest next to one another. The robotic mouse begins to move with a constant speed of 8 m/s. Six seconds later, the robotic cat pursues the robotic mouse with a constant speed of 10 m/s. How much time will it take for the robotic cat to catch the robotic mouse?
Problem 32. A store sells 8 markers for $3.50. There is no sales tax. How much would it cost to purchase 56 markers?
Problem 33. A map is scaled such that 0.5 inches corresponds to 20 miles. On the map, two cities are 3.25 inches apart. What is the actual distance between the cities?
Problem 34. A list contains 60 numbers. Each number is either even or odd. There are 12 more odd numbers than even numbers. What is the ratio of the number of odd numbers to the number of even numbers?
Problem 35. On a hot day, a metal rod is 2% longer than it is at room temperature. A wooden meterstick is not noticeably longer than it is at room temperature. The hot metal rod is 76.5 centimeters long according to the meterstick. How long is the metal rod at room temperature?
Problem 36. On a hot day, a metal meterstick is 2% longer than it is at room temperature. A wooden rod is not noticeably longer than it is at room temperature. According to the hot metal meterstick, the wooden rod appears to be 76.5 centimeters long. What is the actual length of the wooden rod?
