SSAT Upper Level Math : How to solve algebraic word problems

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SSAT Upper Level Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #21 : Algebraic Word Problems

A pitcher standing on top of a 120-foot high building throws a baseball straight up at an initial speed of 92 miles per hour. The height  in feet of the ball after time  seconds can be modelled by the equation 

.

How long does it take for the baseball to reach its height (nearest second)

Possible Answers:

5 seconds

3 seconds

4 seconds

2 seconds

6 seconds

Correct answer:

3 seconds

Explanation:

 has a parabola as its graph; the height of the baseball relative to the time elapsed can be modelled by this parabola. The height of the baseball when it reaches its peak corresponds to the vertex of the parabola. The first coordinate of the vertex, or , is equal to , where, here,

 and .

Therefore, the time coordinate of the vertex is 

Of the given responses, 3 seconds comes closest.

Example Question #21 : Algebraic Word Problems

A pitcher standing on top of a 96-foot high building throws a baseball straight up at an initial speed of 80 miles per hour. The height  in feet of the ball after time  seconds can be modelled by the equation 

.

How long does it take for the ball to hit the ground?

Possible Answers:

10 seconds

12 seconds

6 seconds

8 seconds

4 seconds

Correct answer:

6 seconds

Explanation:

When the ball hits the ground, the height is 0, so set  and solve for :

Either  or .

If , then . Since time cannot be negative, we throw this out.

If , then  - this is the answer we accept. 

The ball hits the ground in 6 seconds.

Example Question #23 : Algebraic Word Problems

A pitcher standing on top of a 96-foot high building throws a baseball straight up at an initial speed of 80 miles per hour. The height  in feet of the ball after time  seconds can be modelled by the equation 

.

Which of the following is closest to the height of the ball when it reaches its peak?

Possible Answers:

150 feet

250 feet

225 feet

200 feet

175 feet

Correct answer:

200 feet

Explanation:

 has a parabola as its graph; the height of the baseball relative to the time elapsed can be modelled by this parabola. The height of the baseball when it reaches its peak corresponds to the vertex of the parabola. The first coordinate of the vertex, or , is equal to , where, here,

The time elapsed after the baseball reaches its peak is

 seconds.

The height at that time is 

 feet.

The closest of the given responses is 200 feet.

Example Question #24 : Algebraic Word Problems

A biologist observes that the population of catfish in a given lake seems to be growing linearly. In 2000, he estimated the number of catfish in the pond to be 7,000; in 2010, he estimated the number to be 11,000. If, indeed, the growth is linear, then express the catfish population  as a function of the year number.

Possible Answers:

None of the other responses gives the correct answer.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The data given can be written in the form of two ordered pairs , with  the number of the year and  the number of catfish - these pairs are  and .

Setting  in the slope formula, the line through these two points has slope

Using the point-slope formula with the first point, the line that models the catfish population is

Example Question #22 : Algebraic Word Problems

A boat that travels 35 miles per hour in still water can travel 270 miles downstream in 6 hours. To the nearest half an hour, how long will it take the boat to travel that same distance upstream?

Possible Answers:

12 hours

11 hours

12.5 hours

10.5 hours

11.5 hours

Correct answer:

11 hours

Explanation:

Let  be the speed of the river current. 

The speed of the boat going downstream is , the sum of the speed of the boat in still water and the speed of the river current. Since rate is distance divided by time, 

To get the speed of the boat going upstream, subtract the speed of the current from that of the boat in still water:  miles per hour.

Since rate multiplied by time is equal to distance, we have:

 hours,

making the correct choice 11 hours.

Example Question #23 : Algebraic Word Problems

John sells apples for  per bunch and watermelons for  a piece.  He made  today and sold  watermelons. How many bunches of apples did he sell?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

You must first set up a revenue equation where  represents the number of bunches of apples sold and  represents the number of watermelons sold.  

This would give us the equation 

.  

The problem gives us both  and  and when we plug those values in we get 

 

or

.

Now you must get  by itself.  

First, subtract  from both sides leaving .  

Then divide both sides by  to get your answer .

Example Question #24 : Algebraic Word Problems

A class of 60 students is divided into two groups; one group has eight less than the other; how many are in each group?

Possible Answers:

 and 

 and 

 and 

 and 

Correct answer:

 and 

Explanation:

To solve this algebraic word problem, first set up an equation:

The variable  represents the amount of people in the group.

Add 

Isolate the variable by adding 8 to both sides of the equation:

Check to make sure that the two conditions of the problem have been met.

Condition one: The two numbers added together must equal 60.

Condition two. One of the numbers is eight less than the other.

Because these two conditions have been met, there are  people in one group and  people in the second group.

Example Question #25 : Algebraic Word Problems

The area of a rectangle is . The width is five less than the length. What is the length and width of the rectangle? 

Possible Answers:

 is the length;  is also the width

 is the length;  is the width

 is the length;  is the width

 is the length;  is the width

Correct answer:

 is the length;  is the width

Explanation:

The formula for computing the area of a rectangle is Area = l x w, where l = length and w = width.

In this algebraic word problem, let the variable  represent the length and  will represent the width of the rectangle.

Write an equation:

Distribute the variable  to what is inside the parentheses:

Set that expression equal to zero by subtracting 36 from both sides:

Factor using the FOIL Method:

Set each equal to zero to find the values of x that make this expression true:

There are two possible values for  and 

Because a dimension cannot be a negative integer, reject  Therefore . This is the measurement of the length of the rectangle.

 represents the width of the rectangle.

Now check to see if the two conditions are met.

Condition 1: Area = length x width

Condition 2: The width is 5cm less than the length.

Therefore  is the length and  is the width of this rectangle.

 

 

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