Other Math Word Problems and Solutions

Problem 1 A salesman sold twice more pears in an afternoon than the

morning of that day. If the total amount which he sold is 360 kilograms,
then how many kilograms did he sell in the morning and the afternoon
separately?
Solution:
If x is the amount that he sold in the morning, then 2x is the amount
which he sold in the afternoon.
x + 2x = 3x is the total amount. So
3x = 360
x = 360/3
x = 120
Answer: Therefore he sold 120 Kgs in the morning and 2.120 = 240 Kgs
in the afternoon.
Problem 2 Ivan gathered twice more chestnuts than Peter and Boris
gathered 2Kgs more than Peter. They gathered 26 kg. chestnuts all
together. How many kilogrames did each one gathered
Solution:
If denote the amount that Peter gathered by x, then Ivan and Boris
gathered 2x and (x+2) respectively.
So
x+2x+x+2=26
4x=24
x=6
Answer: Therefore Peter and Ivan and Boris gathered 6,12,8 Kgs
respectively.

Problem 3
Kamen read 2/3 of a book. He calculated that he read 90 pages more than
the rest of it. How many pages does the book have?
Solution:
If denote the total number pages by x, then he read 2/3.x
x-2/3.x=1/3.x is number of the rest of the book.
2/3.x-1/3.x=90
1/3.x=90
x=270
Answer: So the book has 270 pages.
Problem 4
There is a farm which can be ploughed with 6 tractors for 4 days. They
plough 120hectares a day. If two of the tractors were moved to another
tract, then the rest of the tractors ploughed the same tract for 5 days. How
many acres per day ploughed those 4 tractors?
Solution:
If 6 tractors ploughed 120 hectares a day and finished the work in 4 days,
then the whole tract is:
120.6.4 = 720.4 = 2880 hectares.
Lets suppose that every one of the four tractors for the 5 days ploughed x
hectares. Therefore they finished work:
5.4. x = 20 . x hectares and this is the whole tract 2880 hectares
So we get 20x = 2880 => x = 2880/20 = 144 acres a day ploughed every on
of the four tractor-drivers.
Problem 5
A student multiplied a number by 2, then he subtracted 138 from the

answer and got 102. What was the first number he selected?
Solution:
If x denotes the number he chose at first, then
2*x - 138 = 102 => 2x = 240 => x = 240/2 => x = 120
Problem 6
I divided a number by 5. Then I subtracted 154 from the answer and got 6.
What was the first number I chose?
Solution:
If x denotes the first number I chose at first, then
x/5-154=6 => x/5=160 => x=800
Problem 7
The distance between two towns is 380km. A car and a lorry started from
the two towns at the same time. If they arrive to a same point after 4 hours
and the car drove 5km/h faster than the lorry, then what are their speed
separately?
Solution:
The basic point which is used in such kind of problems is that distance is
equal to speed multiplied by time S = V.t
V km./h.

t h.

S km.

Car

x+5

4(x +5)

Lorry

4x

4(x + 5) + 4x = 380 => 4x + 4x = 380 - 20 => 8x = 360 => x = 360/8 => x

= 45
Therefore the lorry and the car drove with the rate of 45 km/h,50 km/h
respectively.
Problem 8
One of the sides of a rectangle is 3cm shorter than the other side. If we
increase every sides 1cm, then area of the rectangle would be increased
18cm2. Find the length of each sides.
Solution:
If x denotes the longer side (x > 3), then the other will be x 3 cm. Notice

that S1 = x(x - 3) cm2. After increasing, the sides would be (x + 1) cm. and
(x - 3 + 1 ) = (x - 2) cm. These are the new length of the rectangles' sides.
So the area of new rectangle would be S2 = (x + 1).(x - 2) cm2which is 18
cm2 more than the first one. Therefore
S1 +18 = S2 => x(x - 3) + 18 = (x + 1)(x - 2) => x2 - 3x + 18 = x2 + x - 2x 2 => 2x = 20 => x = 10. So the sides of the rectangle are 10 cm. and (10 3) = 7cm.
Problem 9
During a year two cows milked 8100 litres. Next year the rate of their milk
increased 15% and 10$ respectively. So they milked 9100 litres totally.
How many litres are milked from each cow during the first and second
year?
Solution:
If x denotes the amount that the first cow milked during the first year.,
then the second cow gave (8100 x) litres milk in that year. During the
second year the two cows gave the amount milk from the first year + the
increase of the second year totally
So 8100 + 15/100.x + 10/100 . (8100 x) = 9100
Therefore 8100 + (3/20)x + 1/10 (8100 x) = 9100 => 1/20 . x = 190 =>
x = 3800
So they milked 3800 and 4300 litres and for 4370 ad 4730 litres
respectively.
Problem 10
The distance between station A and B is 148 km. From station A to station
B left an express train which proceeded with 80 km/h and at the same
time from station B towards station A left a goods train with 36 km/h. We
know that before the two trains meet at station C the express train drove
for 10min and the goods train - 5min. Find:
a) The distance between station C and station B
b) What time the goods train left station B if the meeting with the express
train at station C was at 12 oclock?
Solution
a) Let's denote the distance from station B to station C by x. Therefore the
distance from station C to station A is (148 x)km. By the time of the

meeting at station C the express train drove for (148 x)/80 + 10/60
hours and the goods train x/36 +5/60 hours. The trains left at the same
time so: (148 x)/80 + 1/6 = x/36 + 1/12 We reduce to a common
denominator, which for 6, 12, 36, 80 is 720 So:
9(148 x) +120 = 20x +60 => 1332 9x + 120 = 20x + 60
=> 29x = 1392 => x = 48 Therefore the distance from station B to station
C is 48 km.
b) By the time of meeting at station C the goods train drove for 48/36 +
5/60 hours, i.e. 1 hour and 25 min.
Therefore it left station B in 12 - 1.25/60 = 10.35/60 oclock, i.e. in 10 h.
and 35min.
Problem 11
A motorman travelled from A to B. Two hours after his leaving, he noticed
that he travelled 80 km and calculated that if he had continued driving the
same speed he would have been late for 15 minutes. So he increased his
speed by 10km/h and arrived in B 36 minutes earlier.
Find the distance between A and B.
Solution:
Let denote the distance between A and B by x. He took 80km for 2 hours.
His speed was V = 80/2 = 40 km/h.
If he had continued the same speed he would have been late for 15
minutes, i.e. the exact time was x/40 15/60 h The rest of the distance
was (x - 80) km. V = 40 + 10 = 50 km/h.
So the time he took the distance between A and B, was 2 +(x - 80)/50 h.
and it was 36 min. less than expected. Therefore the expected time was 2
+ (x -80)/50 + 36/60
When we equalize the expressions for the expected time, we get the
equation:
x/40 15/60 = 2 + (x -80)/50 + 36/60
(x - 10)/40 = (100 + x - 80 + 30)/50
(x - 10)/4 = (x +50)/5
5x - 50 = 4x + 200
x = 250
So the distance between A and B is 250 km.

Problem 12
A team should make 25 pieces a day to deliver an order on time. After 3
days they started to make 30 pieces a day and finally they made 100
pieces more than their agreement. Fine how many pieces did they make
and how many days they work?
Solution:
Lets denote the days that they worked by x. Then 25.x are the pieces that
they should have made. With the new rate they made:
3*25 + (x - 3)*30 = 75 + 30.(x - 3)
Therefore: 25. x = 75 + 30(x -3) 100 => 25x = 75 +30x -90 100 =>
190 -75 = 30x -25 => 115 = 5x => x = 23
So the worked 23 days and they made 23.25 = 575 pieces.
Problem 13
There are 24 students in 7a class. During a youth brigade they planted 24
birches and roses totally. While each girl planted 3 roses, every three boys
planted 1birch. How many birches and roses were planted?
Solution:
Lets denote the number of planted roses by x. Therefore the number of
birches is (24 x) . If each girl planted 3 roses, then there are x/3 girls in
the class, also there are 3*(24-x) boys in the class
There are 24 students in the class totally. Therefore x/3 + 3(24 x) = 24
=> x + 9(24 x) = 3*24 => x +216 9x = 72 => 216 72 = 8x => 144/8 =
x => x = 18
So 18 roses and 24 x = 24 - 18 = 6 birches are planted.
Problem 14
A car left town A to town B at rate of V = 32km/15/60 = x - 0,25. After 3
hours from the departure the driver stopped a 15min in town C. Because
of some damage on the road he changed the road to town B, which the
new road was with 28Km longer than the first road and he drove at V =
40km/h. If he arrived with 30min delay, find:
a) The distance the car has covered
b) The time that took the driver to get from C to B
Solution:
According to the question we dont know if the 15min stop in town C is

expected or it was made because of the road damage. So we will observe

both cases.
1st case . If the stop is expected and when he went directly to B. For both
cases we will observe only the movement from C to B. The real movement
(by the longer road) we will take as x h.
Then the covered distance from C to B is S = 40.x km. If he went from the
main road, it would take x - 30/60 = x - 1/2 hour from C to B. The
distance that he should have covered from C to B if there was no road
damage was (x - 1/2)*32Km which is with 28 km shorter than 40*x km.
So we get that
(x - 1/2).32 + 28 = 40x => 32x -16 +28 = 40x => 8x = 12 => x = 12/8 x =
1.4/12 = 1.20/60 = 1h.20min.
So the car went from C to B in 1hour and 20 min.
And the covered distance from A to B is 3.32 + 12/8.40 = 96 + 60 = 156
km.
II solution Lets take that the 15min stop is done only in the real case, i.e.
because of necessity he chose longer road. Suppose it took x hours for him
to go from C to B. Then the distance is S = 40.x km. It took x - 30/60 15/60 = x -45/60 = x - 3/4 h for him to go from C to B and also the exact
distance from C to B is 32(x - 3/4)km which is 28 km shorter than 40.x,
i.e.
32(x - 3/4) + 28 = 40x => 32x - 24 +28 = 40x => 4 = 8x => x = 1/2hours *
x = 30 min. Then the time for real movement from C to B is 30min. The
covered distance is 3.32 + 1/2.40 = 96 + 20 = 116 km.
Problem 15
If a farmer wants to plough a farm in time, he must plough 120hectares
per day. For technical reasons he ploughed 85hectares a day, because of
that he had to ploughed 2 days more than the exact time and also
40hectares left to be ploughed. How many acres is the whole tract and
how many days would it take to ploughed the farm according to the first
schedule?
Solution:
Lets denote days that the farm should have been ploughed by x. Therefore
the whole farm is 12.x hectares. According to the first plan it should have
been ploughed x + 2 or 85 hectares a day, but because of the technical

reason it was ploughed 85(x + 2), which is with 40 hectares less than the
whole tract. The equation is:
120. x = 85(x + 2) + 40 => 35x = 210 => x = 6 So the days the farm should
have been ploughed were 6 and the farm is 120.6 = 720 hectares.
Problem 16
For 24 days a turner makes exact quantity of pieces. By increasing 5 pieces
in his daily production, he would work 22 days and would make 80 pieces
over the exact quantity. Find the daily production and also how many
pieces should he make?
Solution:
Lets denote pieces he make daily by x. For 24 days he will make 24*x
pieces. His new production is x + 5 pieces and for 22 days he would make
22*(x + 5), which are with 80 more than 24*x. Therefore the equation is:
24. x + 80 = 22.(x +5) => 30 = 2x => x = 15
He makes 15 pieces daily and totally he should make 15.24 = 360 pieces.
Problem 17
A motorman travelled half of the distance between two towns in
2h.30min. and after that he increased his speed 2km/h.He travelled the
second part of the distance in 2h.20min. Find the distance between the
two towns and the speed of the motorman at the very beginning.
Solution:
If on the first half of the distance the speed was x km/h, then in the
second one it would be x + 2 km/h. Half of the distance between two cities
is equal to 2.30/60.x km and 2.20/60.(x + 2)km. From the equation:
2.30/60.x = 2.20/60.(x +2) we get x = 28km/h
Therefore the distance between two cities is equal to 2.2.20/60.28 = 140
km.
Problem 18
A train stopped for 15min after taking half of the distance between two
stations A and B with the rate of 48km/h. After that it increased its speed
with 5/3 m/sec. and arrived on time in station B. Find the distance
between the two stations and the speed of the train after the stop?
Solution:

First we will determine the speed of the train after the stop. The
increment is 5/3m/sec = 5*60*60/3*1000 km/h = 6km/h. Therefore the
new speed is 48 + 6 = 54 km/h. If it took x hours to cover the first half of
the distance, then it took x 15/60 = x - 0.25h for the second part.
So the equation is: 48*x = 54*(x - 0.25) => x = 13.5 h. The whole distance
is 2*48*13.5 = 216.69 km.
Problem 19
A worker can finish exact work in 15 days, another worker can finish only
75% of that work in the same time. At first the second worker worked
several days and then the first one joined him and they finished the rest of
the work in 6 days together.
How many days worked every worker and what percent of the work each
one did?
Solution:
First we will find the daily production of every worker. If we take the
whole work as unit(1), the production of the first one is 1/15 and the
production of the second is 75% of 1/15, i.e.
75/100.1/15 = 1/20 Lets suppose that the second worker worked alone x
days. Therefore he finished x/20 of total work. For the 6 days work done
in common they finished 6.(1/15 +1/20) = 6.7/20 = 7/10
The sum of x/20 and 7/10 gives the whole work, i.e. 1. So we get the
equation:
x/20 +7/10 = 1 => x = 6 The second worker worked 6 + 6 = 12 days and
the first one only 6 days. The amount of work finished by the second
worker is 12.1/20 = 60/100 = 60%, and by the first one is 6.1/15 = 40/100
= 40%
Problem 20
Tractor-drivers planned to plough a farm by ploughing 120hectares a day.
After two days they increased the daily production 25% and that is why
they finished two days earlier.
a) How many hectares is the whole farm?
b) How many days took to plough the whole farm?
c) How many days would have taken to plough the whole farm if they
followed the exact plan?

Solution:
First of all we will find the new daily production of the tractor-drivers in
acres: 25% of 120 acres is 25/100.120 = 30 acres, therefore 120 + 30 = 150
hectares is the new daily production. Lets take the initial needed time for
ploughing as x days. Then the farm is 120.x hectares. The same farm can
be found when 120.2 acres is added to 150.(x -4)hectares Then the
equation is
120x = 120.2 + 150.(x -4) => x = 12 So 12 days were needed if following
the plan but actually the farm was ploughed for 12 -2 =10 days. The farm
is 120.12 = 1440 hectares
Problem 21
To cut down a farm of grass in exact time, a team of mowers should
plough 15hectares daily. After 4 days they increased the daily production
33.1/3%.They finished the work 1 day earlier.
A) How many hectares is the whole farm?
B) How many days did it take to cut the whole farm?
C) How many days would have taken to cut the whole farm if they
followed the exact plan?
Instruction: See problem 20 and solve by yourself.
Answer: A) 120 acres B) 7 days C) 8 days
Problem 22
A train should have taken the distance from A to B according to a schedule
for exact time. If the train leaves station A and proceeds with 75km/h,
then it would arrive in station B 48 minutes earlier. If it proceeds with
50km/h it would arrive 40Km prior to station B. Find:
A) The distance between the two stations;
B) The time it takes the train goes from A to B according to its schedule;
C) The needed speed to keep to the schedule;
Solution:
Lets denote the time for movement from A to B by x. Then the distance
from A to B can be found in two ways. First 75(x - 48/60)km., and second,
50x + 40 km. So we get the equation:
75(x - 48/60) = 50x + 40 => x = 4 is the time by schedule. The distance

between the two stations is 50*4 +40 = 240 km. Then the speed it needs
to keep to the schedule is 240/4 = 60 km/h
Problem 23
The distance between two towns is 300Km. At the same time a train left
from each town. We know that the speed of one of them is with 10km/h
faster than the other one. Find their speed if 2 hours after their departure
the distance between them is 40Km.
Solution:
Lets take the speed of the slower train x. Then the speed of the other
would be x + 10. After 2 hours they would cover 2x km and 2(x +10) km.
Therefore if they didn't meet each other,the whole distance from A to B is
2x + 2(x +10) +40 = 4x +60 km. But If they met the distance would be 2x
+ 2(x + 10) - 40 = 4x - 20 km. So we get the following two equations:
4x + 60 = 300 => 4x = 240 => x = 60 or
4x 20 = 300 => 4x = 320 => x = 80
So the speed of the slower train was 60 km/h or 80 km/h and the speed of
the other one was 70 km/h or 90 km/h
Problem 24
A bus goes from town A to B in an exact time. If the bus goes at the rate of
50km/h, then it will arrive B 42min later than it had to and if it increases
its speed 5.5/9 m/sec., it will arrive B 30min earlier. Find:
A) The distance between the two towns;
B) The exact time that it takes to arrive town B
C) The speed of the bus(by schedule) for the exact time.
Solution:
First we will determine new speed of the bus. The increment is 5.5/9
m/sec. = 50/9 m/sec = 50.60.60/9.1000 km/h = 20 km/h Therefore the
new speed is V = 50 +20 = 70 km/h. If x is the number of hours it should
arrive according to its schedule,with speed 50 km/h he moved from A to B
for x +42/60 h, when V = 70km/h for x 30/60h Then
50(x +42/60) = 70(x -30/60) => 5(x +7/10) = 7(x -1/2)
=> 7/2 +7/2 = 7x -5x => 2x = 7 => x = 7/2
So the time by schedule is 3h.30min.

The distance from A to B is 70(7/2 -1/2) = 70.3 = 210 km and the speed by
schedule is 210/(7/2) = 60km/h.