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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A kid on a rolling escalator

A kid is walking up a downward-moving escalator with a constant speed and counts 72 stairs. Then the kid walks down with the same speed and now counts 36 stairs. Being confused, the kid waits until the mall closes and the escalator is still, so he…
Marius Stephant
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How to solve 7 blue boxes

I recently came across this problem in a job assessment test. I can't go back and answer the question now, but not knowing the answer is bothering me. Any thoughts on the solution and the means of solving would be excellent. Mary has three…
Rodge H.
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The Marshal Conundrum

I've thought of a problem which I would like to know the solution to without having to brute force the answer. The Marshal Conundrum About I thought of The Marshal Conundrum after getting the Marshal badge of SFF.SE. I wondered how long it would…
Edlothiad
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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 petroleum company has two different sources of crude oil.

The first source provides crude oil that is 70% hydrocarbons, and the second one provides crude oil that is 90% hydrocarbons. In order to obtain 180 gallons of crude oil that is 85% hydrocarbons, how many gallons of crude oil must be used from…
Angie
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Mixture Algebra word problem question? Any detailed explaination would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

How many mg of a metal containing 45% nickel must be combined with 6 mg of pure nickel to form an alloy containing 78% nickel? So I've tried these equations but I'm pretty sure they're not correct: N(0.45 + 6) = .78 6 + 0.45 = .78N 0.45N + 6 = .78N
Ambrose
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How is this word problem converted into algebra?

Yvonne is 12. Xavier is twice as old as Yvonne was when Xavier was as old as Yvonne is now. How old is Xavier? The answer given is: Xavier is 16. How is this word problem converted into algebra? What is your reasoning to arrive at such algebra…
Blakes7
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Using one variable vs two variables

I'm in the process of of again learning algebra 1. But I ran across this problem the other day. The sum of two numbers is $10$ and the sum of their reciprocals is $5/12$. Find the numbers. Instinctively, I thought okay $x+x=10$ And when worked out…
Jacob Barrientos
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You are on an island inhabited only by knights, who always tell the truth, and knaves, who always lie.

You are on an island inhabited only by knights, who always tell the truth, and knaves, who always lie. You meet two women who live there and ask the older one, "Is at least one of you a knave?" She responds yes or no, but! you do not yet have…
Keshav Gupta
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What is the largest number one can count to using only one's fingers?

When I was in middle school, I remember once discussing with my friends different methods of counting with one's fingers, that is, assigning a numerical value to each finger so one could count the natural numbers up to a maximum number. For example,…
simonv
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How can I solve this distance-time word problem with functions?

The problem is pretty simple, and its solution is too. But for some reason my suggested solution with functions doesn't work, and I can't figure out why: The first car leaves from point $A$ towards point $B$, and the second car leaves from $B$ to…
Pineapple29
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Maths problem on distance

Distance from city $x$ to $y$ is 1000 kms. A merchant has 3 elephants and 3000 bananas. The merchant wants to transport bananas from $x$ to $y$. The maximum capacity of an elephant is 1000 bananas, and it consumes 1 banana per km. What is the…
savitha
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How to find $X$ amount of gold to distribute between $Y$ amount of people?

I was solving this interesting, yet challenging word problem and it was very hard for me. This type of word problem has many different ways to be solved, one of them by solving it backwards. (It was translated to English). The king summoned the…
MaxE
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How many of $220$ baseball cards are left after giving away $1/4$ of them, selling $20\%$, and giving away another $15$?

This is not a homework problem. This is a discussion between me and my Army buddies. One of my friends included a word problem in this post: Ryan has a collection of $220$ baseball cards. He lets his brother have $1/4$ of his collection and sells…
Curious Layman
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Basic word problem

Friends Matt and Gary are planning to study together. Matt buys some pencils and erasers. Gary spends the same amount of money to buy thrice as many pencils and five less erasers. Now they are set for the group study. If cost of one eraser is two…
Natru
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