Math/Word Problems

2010 abcteach.com

WORD PROBLEMS

Word problems help develop thinking skills in general and math skills in particular. Write an
equation with an answer, write the answer in the context of the question, and include a brief
explanation for each answer. Some questions can be answered with more than one equation;
some questions cannot be answered with an equation; some questions have more than one
acceptable answer.

Example: Christopher made three trips to the store and back. The store is two miles from his
house. How far did he walk?
3x2x2=12; Christopher walked 12 miles because each trip was two miles out and
two miles back, and he made three trips.

1. J oseph has two cousins. The sum of their ages is 18 years. One cousin is four years
older than the other. Mrs. Smith guessed that the ages were 7 and 11. Was her
guess correct?



2. Taylor bought a pumpkin from David for $2.67. Taylor gave David $10.00. How
much money will Taylor get back?



3. Stephanie is going to a movie. One starts at 1:35, one at half past one, and one at
a quarter to two. Which movie starts first?



4. Kayla has a new puppy. She wants to put a rectangular fence around her yard,
which would be sixty-five feet on one side, and eighty feet on the other side. How
may total feet of fencing does she need?



5. Brandon has a fish tank. He has twelve more orange fish than white fish. He has
three fewer white fish than green fish. There are eight green fish. How many fish of
each color? How many fish in all?


6. J ames blew up nineteen balloons. Seven were green, six were blue, and the rest
were yellow. How many balloons were yellow?

- Set D

Math/Word Problems

2010 abcteach.com

ANSWERS TO WORD PROBLEMS SET D.

There is often more than one way to solve a problem. Some of the questions,
shown in bold, are brain teasers and you may need to think in different ways
to solve them.


1. J oseph has two cousins. The sum of their ages is 18 years. One cousin is four
years older than the other. Mrs. Smith guessed that the ages were 7 and 11.
Was her guess correct?

Yes, because 7 + 11 = 18 and 11 7 = 4

2. Taylor bought a pumpkin from David for $2.67. Taylor gave David $10.00.
How much money will Taylor get back?

10 2.67 = 7.33 in change

3. Stephanie is going to a movie. One starts at 1:35, one at half past one, and
one at a quarter to two. Which movie starts first?

The one at 1:30 (half past one) starts first. 1:30 1:35 1:45

4. Kayla has a new puppy. She wants to put a rectangular fence around her
yard, which would be sixty-five feet on one side, and eighty feet on the other
side. How may total feet of fencing does she need?

65 + 65 + 80 + 80 = 290 feet

5. Brandon has a fish tank. He has twelve more orange fish than white fish. He
has three fewer white fish than green fish. There are eight green fish. How
many fish of each color? How many fish in all?

8 = green fish + (8 3) = white fish + (5 + 12) = orange fish = 30 fish in all.
8 + 5 + 17 = 30

6. J ames blew up nineteen balloons. Seven were green, six were blue, and the
rest were yellow. How many balloons were yellow?

19 (7 + 6) = 6 balloons were yellow.