Problem Solving
Simultaneous equation problems
Section A
1. Two numbers have a sum of 20 and a difference of 8
2. Two numbers have a sum of 8 and a difference of 2.
3. 100 tickets were sold for the school talent show. x £2
tickets and y £5 tickets were sold. £260 was collected in
ticket sales.
4. Jason and Alex have £5 between them. Jason has 90p
more than Alex.
5. Chloe and Tino have a combined age of 48. Three
years ago Chloe was double the age Tino is now.
6. There are 12 goals in a football match between Y10
and Y11. Y10 score 4 more than Y11.
7. I think of two numbers. When I double the first one
and add on the second I get 17. When I treble the first
one and subtract the second one I get 18.
Section B
1. The area of a rectangle is 20cm2. The perimeter of
the rectangle is 18cm. What are the lengths of the
sides of the rectangle?
2. James is 3 times Tim’s age. If I times their ages
together, I get 48. How old are they?
3. Find the area x+y
3y – 2 x-y
4y + 1
4. I multiply 2 numbers to get -63. Their difference is
16. What are my two numbers?
5. There are two brothers: Adam and Ben. If I square
Adams’s age, then I get Ben’s age. In three years,
Adam will be half Ben’s age. How old are they?
6. Jim and Tim are sharing money. If I square Jim’s
money and add on Tim’s, I get £10,050. If I square
Tim’s money and add on Jim’s, I get £2,600. How much
do they each have?
7. A triangle has three sides. The sum of the square of
the two shortest sides equals 20. The difference
between the two shortest sides is 4. How long are
they?
 Section A - answers
1. Two numbers have a sum of 20 and a difference of 8
14 and 6
2. Two numbers have a sum of 8 and a difference of 2.
5 and 3
3. 100 tickets were sold for the school talent show. x £2
tickets and y £5 tickets were sold. £260 was collected in
ticket sales. 80x and 20y
4. Jason and Alex have £5 between them. Jason has 90p
more than Alex. £2.05 and £2.95
5. Chloe and Tino have a combined age of 48. Three
years ago Chloe was double the age Tino is now.
Chloe is 33, Tino is 15
6. There are 12 goals in a football match between Y10
and Y11. Y10 score 4 more than Y11.
Y10 scored 7 and y11 scored 3
7. I think of two numbers. When I double the first one
and add on the second I get 17. When I treble the first
one and subtract the second one I get 18.
7 and 3
Section B - answers
1. The area of a rectangle is 20cm2. The perimeter of the
rectangle is 18cm. What are the lengths of the sides of the
rectangle? 4 and 5
2. James is 3 times Tim’s age. If I times their ages together, I
get 48. How old are they? 4 and 12
3. Find the area x+y
3y – 2 x-y
30
4y + 1
4. I multiply 2 numbers to get -63. Their difference is 16.
What are my two numbers? 7 and -9 or 9 and -7
5. There are two brothers: Adam and Ben. If I square
Adams’s age, then I get Ben’s age. In three years, Adam will
be half Ben’s age. How old are they? 3 and 9
6. Jim and Tim are sharing money. If I square Jim’s money
and add on Tim’s, I get £10,050. If I square Tim’s money
and add on Jim’s, I get £2,600. How much do they each
have? £100, £50
7. A triangle has three sides. The sum of the square of the
two shortest sides equals 20. The difference between the
two shortest sides is 4. How long are they? 12,16