All SSAT Upper Level Math Resources
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)
5 seconds
3 seconds
4 seconds
2 seconds
6 seconds
3 seconds
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?
10 seconds
12 seconds
6 seconds
8 seconds
4 seconds
6 seconds
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?
150 feet
250 feet
225 feet
200 feet
175 feet
200 feet
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.
None of the other responses gives the correct answer.
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?
12 hours
11 hours
12.5 hours
10.5 hours
11.5 hours
11 hours
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?
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?
and
and
and
and
and
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?
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
is the length; is the width
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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