"Age" Word Problems (page 1 of 2)

In January of the year 2000, I was one more than eleven times as old as my son William. In January of 2009, I was seven more than three times as old as him. How old was my son in January of 2000? Obviously, in "real life" you'd have walked up to my kid and and asked him how old he was, and he'd have proudly held up three grubby fingers, but that won't help you on your homework. Here's how you'd figure out his age for class: First, name things and translate the English into math: Let "E " stand for my age in 2000, and let "W " stand for William's age. Then E = 11W + 1 in the year 2000 (from "eleven times as much, plus another one"). In the year 2009 (nine years after the year 2000), William and I will each be nine years older, so our ages will be E + 9 and W + 9. Also, I was seven more than three times as old as William was, so E + 9 = 3(W + 9) + 7 = 3W + 27 + 7 = 3W + 34. This gives you two equations, each having two variables:

E = 11W + 1 E + 9 = 3W + 34
If you know how to solve systems of equations, you can proceed with those techniques. Otherwise, you can use the first equation to simplify the second: since E = 11W + 1, plug "11W + 1 " in for "E " in the second equation:

E + 9 = 3W + 34 (11W + 1) + 9 = 3W + 34 11W 3W = 34 9 1 8W = 24 W=3

Remember that the problem did not ask for the value of the variable W; it asked for the age of a person. So the answer is: William was three years old in January of 2000.

The important steps above were to set up the variables, labelling them all clearly with their definitions, and then to increment the variables by the required amount (in this case, by 9) to reflect the passage of time. Don't try to use the same expression to stand for two different things. If "E " stands for my age in 2000, then "E " can not also stand for my age in 2009. Make sure that you are very explicit about this when you set up your equations; write down the two sets of information (our ages at the first time, and then our ages at the second time) as two distinct situations.

In three more years, Miguel's grandfather will be six times as old as Miguel was last year. When Miguel's present age is added to his grandfather's present age, the total is 68. How old is each one now? Copyright Elizabeth Stapel 2000-2011 All Rights Reserved This exercise refers not only to their present ages, but also to both their ages last year and their ages in three years, so labelling will be very important. I will label Miguel's present age as " m"

and his grandfather's present age as "g". Then m + g = 68. Miguel's age "last year" was m 1. His grandfather's age "in three more years" will be g + 3. The grandfather's "age three years from now" is six times Miguel's "age last year" or, in math:

g + 3 = 6(m 1)
This gives me two equations with two variables:

m + g = 68 g + 3 = 6(m 1)
Solving the first equation, I get m = 68 g. (Note: It's okay to solve for "g = 68 m", too. The problem will work out a bit differently in the middle, but the answer will be the same at the end.) I'll plug "68 g" into the second equation in place of "m":

g + 3 = 6m 6 g + 3 = 6(68 g) 6 g + 3 = 408 6g 6 g + 3 = 402 6g g + 6g = 402 3 7g = 399 g = 57

Since "g" stands for the grandfather's current age, then the grandfather is 57 years old. Since m + g = 68, then m = 11, and Miguel is presently eleven years old. One-half of Heather's age two years from now plus one-third of her age three years ago is twenty years. How old is she now? This problem refers to Heather's age two years in the future and three years in the past. So I'll pick a variable and label everything clearly: age now: H age two years from now: H + 2 age three years ago: H 3 Now I need certain fractions of these ages: one-half of age two years from now: ( /2 )(H + 2) = 1 H one-third of age three years ago: ( /3 )(H 3) = /3
1 H

/2 + 1 1 20:

The sum of these two numbers is twenty, so I'll add them and set this equal to
H

/2 + 1 + H/3 1 = 20 H /2 + H/3 = 20 3H + 2H = 120 5H = 120 H = 24

Heather is 24 years old. Note: Remember that you can always check your answer to any "solving" exercise by plugging that answer back into the original problem. If Heather is 24 now, then she will be 26 in two years, half of which is 13, and she was 21 three years ago, a third of which is 7. Adding, I get 13 + 7 = 20, so the solution works.

"Distance" Word Problems (page 1 of 2)

"Distance" word problems, often also called "uniform rate" problems, involve something travelling at some fixed and steady ("uniform") pace ("rate" or "speed"), or else moving at some average speed. Whenever you read a problem that involves "how fast", "how far", or "for how long", you should think of the distance equation, d = rt, where d stands for distance, r stands for the (constant or average) rate of speed, and t stands for time. Warning: Make sure that the units for time and distance agree with the units for the rate. For instance, if they give you a rate of feet per second, then your time must be in seconds and your distance must be in feet. Sometimes they try to trick you by using the wrong units, and you have to catch this and convert to the correct units. A 555-mile, 5-hour plane trip was flown at two speeds. For the first part of the trip, the average speed was 105 mph. Then the tailwind picked up, and the remainder of the trip was flown at an average speed of 115 mph. For how long did the plane fly at each speed? First I'll set up a grid:
Copyright Elizabeth Stapel 2000-2011 All Rights Reserved

first part second part total Using "d

d d 555 d 555

r 105 115 ---

t t 5t 5

= rt", the first row gives me d = 105t and the second row gives me:

555 d = 115(5 t)
Since the two distances add up to 555, I'll add the two distance expressions, and set their sum equal to the given total:

555 = 105t + 115(5 t)

Then I'll solve:

555 = 105t + 575 115t 555 = 575 10t 20 = 10t 2=t

According to my grid, "t" stands for the time spent on the first part of the trip, so my answer is "The plane flew for two hours at 105 mph and three hours at 115 mph." You can add distances and you can add times, but you cannot add rates. Think about it: If you drive mph on one street, and 40 mph on another street, does that mean you averaged 60 mph?

20

As you can see, the actual math involved is often quite simple. It's the set-up that's the hard part. So what follows are some more examples, but with just the set-up displayed. An executive drove from home at an average speed of 30 mph to an airport where a helicopter was waiting. The executive boarded the helicopter and flew to the corporate offices at an average speed of 60 mph. The entire distance was 150 miles; the entire trip took three hours. Find the distance from the airport to the corporate offices.

driving flying total

d d 150 d 150

r 30 60 ---

t t 3t 3

The first row gives me the equation d = 30t. Since the first part of his trip accounted for d miles of the total 150-mile distance and t hours of the total 3-hour time, I am left with 150 d miles and 3 t hours for the second part. The second row gives me the equation:

150 d = 60(3 t)
Adding the two "distance" expressions and setting their sum equal to the given total distance, I get:

150 = 30t + 60(3 t)

Solve for t; interpret the value; state the final answer.

150 = 30t + 60(3 - t) 150 = 30t + 180 - 60t 150 - 180 = -30t -30 = -30t

1=t
A car and a bus set out at 2 p.m. from the same point, headed in the same direction. The average speed of the car is 30 mph slower than twice the speed of the bus. In two hours, the car is 20 miles ahead of the bus. Find the rate of the car.

car bus total

d d + 20 d ---

r 2r 30 r ---

t 2 2 ---

(As it turns out, I won't need the "total" row this time.) The first row gives me:

d + 20 = 2(2r 30)
This is not terribly helpful. The second row gives me:

d = 2r
Use the second equation to simplify the first equation by substituting " 2r" in for "d", and then solve for "r". Interpret this value within the context of the exercise, and state the final answer.

2r + 20 = 2(2r - 30) 2r + 20 = 4r - 60 20 + 60 = 4r - 2r 80 = 2r 40 = r
A passenger train leaves the train depot 2 hours after a freight train left the same depot. The freight train is traveling 20 mph slower than the passenger train. Find the rate of each train, if the passenger train overtakes the freight train in three hours.

passenger train freight train total

d d d ---

r r r 20 ---

t 3 3+2=5 ---

(As it turns out, I won't need the "total" row this time.) Why is the distance just " d" for both trains? Partly, that's because the problem doesn't say how far the trains actually went. But mostly it's because they went the same distance as far as I'm concerned, because I'm only counting from

the depot to wherever they met. After that meet, I don't care what happens. And how did I get those times? I know that the passenger train drove for three hours to catch up to the freight train; that's how I got the "3". But note that the freight train had a two-hour head start. That means that the freight train was going for five hours.

passenger train freight train total

d d = 3r d = 5(r 20) ---

r r r 20 ---

t 3 3+2=5 --d = rt, the first

Now that I have this information, I can try to find my equation. Using the fact that row gives me d = 3r (note the revised table above). The second row gives me:

d = 5(r 20)
Since the distances are equal, I will set the equations equal:

3r = 5(r 20)
Solve for r; interpret the value within the context of the exercise, and state the final answer.

3r = 5r - 100 100 = 2r 50 = r

"Distance" Word Problems: More Examples (page 2 of 2)

Two cyclists start at the same time from opposite ends of a course that is 45 miles long. One cyclist is riding at 14 mph and the second cyclist is riding at 16 mph. How long after they begin will they meet?

slow guy fast guy total

d d 45 d 45

r 14 16 ---

t t t ---

Why is t the same for both cyclists? Because I am measuring from the time they both started to the time they meet somewhere in the middle. And how did I get "d" and "45 d" for the distances? Because once I'd assigned the slow guy as having covered d miles, that left 45 d miles for the fast guy to cover: the two guys together covered the whole 45 miles.

Using "d = rt", I get d = 14t from the first row, and 45 d = 16t from the second row. Since these distances add up to 45, I will add the distance expressions and set equal to the given total:

45 = 14t + 16t
Solve for t.

45 = 30t 3/2 = t = 1.5 They will meet in an hour and a half.

A boat travels for three hours with a current of 3 mph and then returns the same distance against the current in four hours. What is the boat's speed in calm water? How far did the boat travel one way?

downstream upstream total

d d d 2d

r b+3 b3 ---

t 3 4 7

(It may turn out that I won't need the "total" row.) I have used "b" to indicate the boat's speed. Why are the rates "b + 3" and "b 3"? Because I actually have two speeds combined into one on each trip. The boat has a certain speed (the "speed in calm water" that I'm looking for; this is the speed that registers on the speedometer), and the water has a certain speed (this is the "current"). When the boat is going with the current, the water's speed is added to the boat's speed. This makes sense, if you think about it: even if you cut the engine, the boat would still be moving, because the water would be carrying it downstream. When the boat is going against the current, the water's speed is subtracted from the boat's speed. This makes sense, too: if the water is going fast enough, the boat will still be going downstream (a "negative" speed, because the boat would be going backwards at this point), because the water is more powerful than the boat. (Think of a boat in a cartoon heading toward a waterfall. The guy paddles like crazy, but he still goes over the edge.)

downstream upstream total Using "d

d d = 3(b + 3) d = 4(b 3) 2d

r b+3 b3 ---

t 3 4 7

= rt", the first row (of the revised table above) gives me:

d = 3(b + 3)
The second row gives me:

d = 4(b 3)
Since these distances are the same, I will set them equal:

3(b + 3) = 4(b 3)
Solve for b. Then back-solve for d.

3b + 9 = 4b - 12 9 + 21 = 4b - 3b 21 = b The boat's speedometer reads '21' mph.

In this case, I didn't need the "total" row. With the wind, an airplane travels 1120 miles in seven hours. Against the wind, it takes eight hours. Find the rate of the plane in still air and the velocity of the wind.

tailwind headwind total

d 1120 1120 2240

r p+w pw ---

t 7 8 15

(I probably won't need the "total" row.) Just as with the last problem, I am really dealing with two rates together: the plane's speedometer reading, and the wind speed. When the plane turns around, the wind is no longer pushing the plane to go faster, but is instead pushing against the plane to slow it down. Copyright Elizabeth Stapel 2000-2011 All Rights Reserved The first row gives me:

1120 = 7(p + w)
The second row gives me:

1120 = 8(p w)
The temptation is to just set these equal, like I did with the last problem, but that just gives me:

7(p + w) = 8(p w)
...which doesn't help much. I need to get rid of one of the variables. I'll take that first equation:

1120 = 7(p + w)
...and divide through by 7:

160 = p + w
Then, subtracting w from either side, I get that p second equation:

= 160 w. I'll substitute "160 w" for "p" in the

1120 = 8([160 w] w) 1120 = 8(160 2w)

...and solve for w. Then I'll back-solve to find p.

1120 = 1280 - 16w 16w = 1280 - 1120 = 160 w = 10 The wind is blowing at 10 mph.
A spike is hammered into a train rail. You are standing at the other end of the rail. You hear the sound of the hammer strike both through the air and through the rail itself. These sounds arrive at your point six seconds apart. You know that sound travels through air at 1100 feet per second and through steel at 16,500 feet per second. How far away is that spike? (Round to one decimal place.)

air steel total

d d = 1100t d = 16,500(t 6) ---

r 1100 16,500 ---

t t t6 6

However long the sound took to travel through the air, it took six seconds less to propagate through the steel. (Since the speed through the steel is faster, then that travel-time must be shorter.) I multiply the rate by the time to get the values for the distance column. (Once again, I didn't need the "total" row.) Since the distances are the same, I set the distance expressions equal to get:

1100t = 16,500(t 6)
Solve for the time t, and then back-solve for the distance d by plugging t into either expression for the distance d.

divide through by 100: 11t = 165(t - 6) then: 11t = 165t - 990 990 = 154t 990/154 = t = 45/7