GED Math : Word Problems in Algebra

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GED Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #151 : Single Variable Algebra

Timmy works at a fast food chain retail store five days a week, eight hours a day. Suppose it costs him $2.00 everyday to drive to and from work. He makes $10.00 per hour. How much will Timmy have at the end of the week, before applicable taxes?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Timmy makes ten dollars per hour for eight hours.

For five days:  

Timmy also will pay  for the week to get to work and back.

Subtract his expense from his earnings for the week.

Timmy will have  by the end of the week.

Example Question #21 : Word Problems In Algebra

Jessica placed  in a savings account that has an interest rate of . If the interest that was generated was , how many months was the money deposited?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Recall the formula for calculating the interest:

, where  is the amount of interest generated,  is the principle (initial deposit),  is the interest rate, and  is the time in years.

Since the question asks for a length of time, we will need to solve for .

Plug in the given information and solve for .

Recall that  is given in years. However, the question wants the number of months the money was deposited for. Thus, multiply by  to get the number of months.

The money was deposited for  months.

 

Example Question #23 : Word Problems In Algebra

If Richard works for 5 hours per day earning $10 per hour for five days a week, how much will he have after 2 weeks?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Calculate how much Richard will earn per day.

For five hours at an hourly wage of :  

He will work five days per week.  At the end of 2 week period, Richard will have worked a total of 10 days.

Multiply the  per day with 10 to get the total amount.

The answer is:  

Example Question #711 : Ged Math

Joseph can spend up to  on video games this month. If each video game costs , which of the following represents the conditions of Joseph's purchase?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Because the question states that Joseph can spend up to , we know that we will be using a less than or equal to sign. We cannot use an equal sign because that means Joseph will be spending exactly .

Since each video game costs , that means if Joseph buys  number of games, he will spend .

Thus, the conditions of his purchase can be illustrated by .

Example Question #712 : Ged Math

A computer that is on sale for  off costs . What was the original price of the computer?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Let  be the original cost of the computer.

Since we have taken  off,  can represent the amount that is taken off.

We can then write the following equation:

Now solve for .

Example Question #21 : Word Problems In Algebra

The fare for a taxi meter is calculated as follows: Each fare will have an initial  charge to pick someone up. Then,  is added for each mile driven. Which of the following expressions illustrates the taxi fare if an individual took a trip  miles long?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, calculate the cost for the miles driven. Since the rider will be charged  for every mile driven, we can write the expression  to illustrate the total mileage cost.

Next, since the problem states that  will be a one-time charge on the fare, we can then write the following expression to illustrate the total cost of a taxi ride of  miles: 

Example Question #21 : Word Problems In Algebra

Sixty-four coins, all dimes and quarters, total $8.95. How many quarters are there?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Let  be the number of quarters. Then there are  dimes.

An equation can be set up and solved for  for the amount of money in dollars:

Example Question #21 : Word Problems In Algebra

Ten less than three times a number squared is 182. What is the number?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Translate the words into a mathematical equation. "Three times a number squared" can be written as . "Less " is telling you to subtract  from .

We can then write the following equation, then solve for .

Example Question #716 : Ged Math

After a  discount, a pair of shoes costs . What was the original price of the shoes?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Let  be the original price of the shoes. Since the shoes were  off, we can write the following equation:

Now, solve for .

The shoes originally cost .

Example Question #717 : Ged Math

Joseph is responsible for planning his company's holiday party. He has been given a budget of  for renting a venue and providing dinner for all the attendees. The cost for renting a venue is . He expects  employees to show up to the party. Which inequality shows how to find the amount, , that Joseph can spend on dinner for each person?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Since Joseph has a budget of , that means he cannot spend above that amount. This translates to the use of the less than or equal sign, , in the inequality.

The total cost for the dinner for all the attendees can be found by multiplying the number of attendees by the cost of each dinner, .

The rental of the venue is a one-time payment.

Thus, we can write the following inequality:

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