PSAT Math : Solving Word Problems with One Unit Conversions

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for PSAT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #81 : Ratios & Proportional Relationships

A carpenter is making a model house and he buys  of crown moulding to use as accent pieces. He needs  of the moulding for the house. How many feet of the material does he need to finish the model?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We can solve this problem using ratios. There are  in . We can write this relationship as the following ratio:

We know that the carpenter needs  of material to finish the house. We can write this as a ratio using the variable  to substitute the amount of feet.

Now, we can solve for  by creating a proportion using our two ratios.

Cross multiply and solve for .

Simplify.

Divide both sides by .

Solve.

Reduce.

The carpenter needs  of material.

Example Question #82 : Ratios & Proportional Relationships

A carpenter is making a model house and he buys  of crown moulding to use as accent pieces. He needs  of the moulding for the house. How many feet of the material does he need to finish the model?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We can solve this problem using ratios. There are  in . We can write this relationship as the following ratio:

We know that the carpenter needs  of material to finish the house. We can write this as a ratio using the variable  to substitute the amount of feet.

Now, we can solve for  by creating a proportion using our two ratios.

Cross multiply and solve for .

Simplify.

Divide both sides by .

Solve.

The carpenter needs  of material.

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