2009 - 2010

7th Grade Story Problems, Set #2

#1 A 120 ft. piece of wood is cut into three pieces. The second piece is
twice as long as the first, and the third piece is three times as long as the
first piece. How long is the longest piece?

#2 Sonia is planning a rectangular vegetable garden using a roll of

3
border fencing that is 45 feet long. If she makes the width of the
4
1
garden 10 feet, what must the length be?
2

#3 In Acapulco, Mexico, divers jump from a cliff at heights of 85 to 115

feet above the water (don’t try this at home). After t seconds, a diver has
fallen 16𝑡 2 feet.

a) Does a diver jumping from a height of 85 feet reach the surface

of the water within 2 seconds?
b) How much lower is the diver from part (a) after 2 seconds than
after 1 second?

#4 The population of Amesville can be represented by 6800 − 120𝑥

and the population of Boomville can be represented by 4200 + 80𝑥,
where x is the number of years since 2006. In what year will the
population of the two towns be equal?

#5 The elevation at the top of Mount Everest is 8850 meters. The

temperature falls at a rate of 1℃ per 100 meters. The base of Mount
Everest is at an elevation of 5400 meters and its temperature is −3℃.
What is the temperature at the top of the mountain?
 2009 - 2010

7th Grade Story Problems, Set #2

KEY
#1 A 120 ft. piece of wood is cut into three pieces. The second piece is
twice as long as the first, and the third piece is three times as long as the
first piece. How long is the longest piece? 60 feet

#2 Sonia is planning a rectangular vegetable garden using a roll of

3
border fencing that is 45 feet long. If she makes the width of the
4
1 3
garden 10 feet, what must the length be? 12 feet
2 8

#3 In Acapulco, Mexico, divers jump from a cliff at heights of 85 to 115

feet above the water (don’t try this at home). After t seconds, a diver has
fallen 16𝑡 2 feet.

a) Does a diver jumping from a height of 85 feet reach the surface

of the water within 2 seconds? No, the diver has fallen only 64
feet
b) How much lower is the diver from part (a) after 2 seconds than
after 1 second? 48 feet; after 1 second the diver has fallen 16
feet, after 2 seconds the diver has fallen 64 feet, so 64 − 16 =
48

#4 The population of Amesville can be represented by 6800 − 120𝑥

and the population of Boomville can be represented by 4200 + 80𝑥,
where x is the number of years since 2006. In what year will the
population of the two towns be equal? 2019

#5 The elevation at the top of Mount Everest is 8850 meters. The

temperature falls at a rate of 1℃ per 100 meters. The base of Mount
Everest is at an elevation of 5400 meters and its temperature is −3℃.
What is the temperature at the top of the mountain? −37.5℃