Word Problems
Objects on Neptune weigh about 4/5 of their weight on Earth. If a dog weighs 40 pounds on Earth, how much would it weigh on Neptune?
Multiply. A dog weighs 4/5 of its weight on Neptune. 4/5 of 40 pounds. We are asking, "What is 4/5 OF 40?" Answer: 32
2/3 x 6
4
Solve: 2x + 2 = 18
x = 8
Hannah counted 21 pieces of candy. She ate 4/7 of the candy. How much candy did she eat?
Multiply! Hannah ate 4/7 of the candy. She ate 4/7 OF 21 pieces of candy. We are asking, "What is 4/7 OF 21." Answer: 12
7/8 x 3/8
21/64
Solve: 3x + 4 = 7
x = 1
Before she went to the hairdresser, Sheila's hair was 7 1/2 inches long. When she left the salon, it was 5 1/4 inches long. How much of her hair did Sheila cut off?
Subtract. We are looking for the difference between the length of Sheila's hair before and after. Answer: 2 1/4 inches
1/6 + 1/2
2/3
Solve: 3x + 3 - 2x = 21
x = 18
Neo is making samples of one of her fashion designs. She has 14 yards of fabric. Each sample takes 2 ¼ yards of fabric. How many samples can she make?
Divide! The clue is you are taking a total amount (14 yards) and seeing how many 2 1/4 yards pieces Neo can cut from the 14 yards. The exact answer would be 6 2/9, but since you can't make 2/9 of a clothing sample, we would drop our remainder and final answer is 6. Either answer gets points
3/5 + 1/3
14/15
Solve: 4x - 5 - 3x + 2 - 2x = 9
x = -12
Ms. Campbell had 18 lbs of oranges. She gave away 5/6 of the oranges. How much did she keep for her family?
Multiply. She gave away 5/6 of the oranges. We're asking, "What is 5/6 OF 18 lbs." which is 15 lbs. This means she kept 3lbs for her family.
5/7 - 2/3
1/21
Solve: 21 = (x/3) - 12
x = 99