Pan Balance Problems
Algebraic Expressions
Rules of Algebra
Math Riddles
Mixed Bag
100

See Question 1

Answer: 5

100
Write in the missing number: 23 + 4 = ___ + 14
13
100
Write an equation using variables to represent a car travelling 30 miles per hour. (use D for distance and h for hours)
D = 30 x h
100

What is half of two plus two?

3. (Order of Operations!)

100
What color socks do bears wear?
Bears don't wear socks. They always have "bear" feet!
200

See Question 2

Answer: 4

200
Mary has D dollars as the balance in her checking account. She deposits $25 within a month. How much money does Mary have after one month? (Represent using an algebraic expression)
D + 25
200
If Joan's car travels 28 miles per gallon of gas, and Tom's car travels 42 miles per gallon of gas, who can travel further on 10 gallons of gas?
Tom (420 miles) will travel further than Joan (280 miles)
200

Mom and dad have four daughters, and each daughter has one brother. How many people are in the family?

7. Mom, Dad, 4 daughters, and only 1 son!

200
What is Mr. Ackerman's favorite TV series?
Star Trek
300

See Question 3

Answer: 12

300
If Ali's grandfather is 50 years older than Ali, then Ali is how old? (Use G to represent how old Ali's grandfather is)
Ali is G - 50 years old
300
If one bag of apples costs $5.50, how many bags can I buy with $60?
10 bags (I would need $0.50 more to afford the 11th bag!)
300

There is a three digit number. The second digit is four times as big as the third digit, while the first digit is three less than the second digit. What is the number?

141


300
What day of the week was our first day of school?
Tuesday (the day after Labor day, which is always a Monday!)
400

See Question 4

Answer: Pen = 15 grams, Apple = 30 grams

400
A library charges 10 cents for each overdue book. It adds an additional charge of 5 cents per day that the book is overdue. The charge for a book that is D days over due is: (Show the problem using an algebraic expression)
10 + (5 x D) or 5D + 10
400
Tim's old car can travel 30 miles on 2 gallons of gas, 75 miles on 5 gallons of gas, and 135 miles on 9 gallons of gas. How many miles per gallon does his car get?
15 miles per gallon
400

If 9999 = 4, 8888 = 8, 1816 = 3, 1212 = 0, then 1919 = ?

2. Count how many closed circles are in each 4 digit number!

400
Solve this riddle: The person who makes it has no need for it. The person who purchases it does not use it. The person who does use it does not know they are. What is it?
A coffin
500

See Question 5

Answer: Calculator = 40 paper clips, Calculator = 8 circles

500
Jonathan had 36 postage stamps. His grandpa gave him 12 more. He needs to use S many stamps to mail out invitations to his birthday party, and then he will split the rest with his little brother. Write an expression to show how many stamps Jonathan will have in the end.
(36 + 12 - S) / 2 or (48 - S) / 2
500
John, Jack, and Joey are brothers. Last year, John was twice as old as Joey. This year, John is three times as old as Jack. Jack is 3 years old today. How old are John and Joey?
John is 9 (3 x 3) and Joey is 5 ((9-1)/2 = 4(+1))
500

Four years ago, Alex was twice as old as Jake. Four years from now, Jake will be 3/4 of Alex's age. How old is Alex?

12

500
Joe bought a bag of oranges on Monday, and ate a third of them. On Tuesday he ate half of the remaining oranges. On Wednesday he looked in the bag to find that he only had two oranges left. How many oranges were originally in the bag?
6 oranges (he ate 2 the first day, and 2 the second day!)
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