Mathematics Stack Exchange
Mathematics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [word-problem]

A word problem is an exercise with its main challenge being in translation from words to mathematical concepts and language including symbols and formulas. This tag is not about the unrelated topic in group theory.

Word problems have been posed since the earliest mathematics exercises.

Couching an application of mathematical reasoning in terms of everyday objects and activities, the genre of word problems has attracted considerable analysis for education theory over the decades.

It has also garnered a fair amount of parody.

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What's wrong with my formula?

I'm learning about rational functions, and encountered this word problem: A helicopter flies from Vancouver to Calgary a distance of 677km with a tailwind. On the return trip the helicopter was 40km/h slower. The total flying time for both flights…
Neil Judi
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False proof that $\frac{13}{6}=0$

At start, the length of a line segment is $a_0=0$. When $3$ hours have elapsed since start, its length is $a_3$. When $1$ hour has elapsed since start, its length increased by $\frac{a_3}{2}$ with respect to $a_0$ (call the new length $a_1$). When…
Nomas
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Solve Riddle With Algebra

There is a riddle and I believe it can be solved by algebra - please assist A boy has as many sisters as brothers, but each sister has only half as many sisters as brothers. How many brothers and sisters are there in the family Here is algebra,…
Marium
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age-based word problem

Peter's age is three years more than three times his son's age. After three years, Peter's age will be ten years more than twice his son's age. What is Peter's present age? I have tried to put this into algebra, but not sure if correct? $x =$…
italy
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Spivak Chapter 2, problems 27 (and 28)

To be honest, I have no idea how to even start this problem. I'm sorry I don't have any work to show, but I'm just at a blank. Help? Chapter 2: Problem 27: University B, once boasted $17$ tenured professors of mathematics. Tradition prescribed…
Lob
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Simple word problem causes dispute

A company purchases 200 VCR units at a price of \$220 each. For each order of 200, there is a fee of \$25 added as well. If the company sells each VCR unit at a price marked up 30 percent, what is the profit per unit? -First dispute was that no one…
Beethoven1111
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A certain car model costs 21,000 euro now, and it devaluates 5% every year. How much will it cost in 6 years?

A certain car brand estimates that a certain model, that now costs 21000 euro, will devaluate 5% per year. How much will this car cost in 6 years? I did: $$21000 \cdot (1+.05)^6 \approx 28142$$ Now I remove the initial value from this one to get…
Mark Read
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Payoff of a dice game

I came across this question today: "A fair die is tossed. If 2,3 or 5 occurs, the player wins that number of rupees, but if 1, 4 or 6 occurs, the player loses that number if rupees. Then find the possible payoffs for the player". My textbook has…
user361896
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Probabilities ant cube

I have attached a picture of the cube in the question. An ant moves along the edges of the cube always starting at $A$ and never repeating an edge. This defines a trail of edges. For example, $ABFE$ and $ABCDAE$ are trails, but $ABCB$ is not a…
Zhao
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The page numbers of an open book totalled $871$. At what pages was the book open?

So far I have $x + (x-1) = 871$. This has led to one page being $435$ and the other, $436$. Is there anything needing alteration, or is this equation workable?
user214824
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Turning an informal proof about palindromes into a formal proof

No. of dots: $k$ No. of slots: $n$ If the dots are placed in every combination within the slots, how many palindromes will there be? The dots cannot be superimposed on each other, which means $k \lt n$. $$n,k,x,y \in \Bbb N$$ $$\text{No.…
user110391
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How to setup the correct fraction in word problems?

The word problem: "An old computer consists of 18000 vacuum tubes. One vacuum tube lasts 900 hours. How long can you run the computer before you have to replace one vacuum tube?" My attempt: I thought "How many times does $900$ fit in $18000$",…
Joyat
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Profit/Loss percentage question

Tom buys $18$ lobsters at the same cost. He sells $16$ lobsters at a $60\%$ profit. Each of the remaining lobsters are sold at the same loss. It is given that the overall percentage profit is $50\%$. A) Find the percentage of loss of selling the…
Harsh Fernandes
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Which value should be in the numerator? How to think about fractions? **Updated**

If I have a word problem with a fraction, how should I know which value should be in the numerator? Say I have the following problem: "You stand 180 meters away from a radio tower. One wavelength is 260 meters. How many wavelengths away from the…
Joyat
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20 Gifts and four stacks, How many Gifts in each pile?

There are twenty gifts stacked up into $4$ piles. The first pile has $3$ less than the second pile. The second pile has $2$ more than the third pile. The fourth pile has twice as many as the second pile. How many gifts are in each pile? This is for…
Daniel R.
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