Chapter 3 Word Problems
1.) You plan to work 200 hours this summer mowing
lawns and babysitting. You need to make a total of
$1300. Babysitting pays $6 per hour and mowing
lawns pays $8 per hour. How many hours should you
work at each job?
5.) One evening, 76 people gathered to play doubles
and singles ping pong. There were 26 games in
progress at one time. A doubles game requires 4
players and a singles game requires 2 players. How
many games of each kind were in progress at one time
if all 76 people were playing?
2.) You enroll in a book club in which you can earn
bonus points to use toward the purchase of books.
Each paperback book you order costs $6.95 and earns
you 2 bonus points. Each hardcover book costs $19.95
and earns you 4 bonus points. The first order you
place comes to a total of $60.75 and earns you 14 onus
points. How many of each type of book did you
order?
6.) A citrus fruit company plans to make 13.25 lb gift
boxes of oranges and grapefruits. Each box is to have a
retail value of $21. Each orange weighs 0.5 lb and has
a retail value of $0.75., while each grapefruit weighs
0.75 lb and has a retail value of $1.25. How many
oranges and grapefruits should be included in the box?
3.) A bus station 15 miles from the airport runs a
shuttle service to and from the airport. The 9:00 AM
bus leaves for the airport traveling 30 mph. The 9:05
AM bus leaves for the airport traveling 40 mph. Write
a system of linear equations to represent distance as a
function of time for each bus. How far from the
airport will the 9:05 AM bus catch up to the 9:00 AM
bus?
7.) You are starting a business selling boxes of handpainted greeting cards. To get started, you spend $36
on paint and paintbrushes that you need. You buy
boxes of plain cards for $3.50 per box, paint the cards,
and then sell them for $5 per box. How many boxes
must you sell for your earnings to equal your expenses?
What will your earnings and expenses equal when you
break even?
4.) The school yearbook staff is purchasing a digital
camera. Recently the staff received two ads in the
mail. The ad for store #1 states that all digital cameras
are 15% off. The ad for store #2 gives a $300 coupon
to use when purchasing any digital camera. Assume
that the lowest priced digital camera is $700. When
could you get the same deal at either store?
8.) You ride an express bus from the center of town to
your street. You have two payment options. Option
A: buy a monthly pass and pay $1 per ride. Option B:
pay $2.50 per ride. A monthly pass costs $30. After
how many rides will the total costs of the two options
be the same?
9.) A soccer league offers two options for
membership plans. Option A: an initial fee of $40
and costs $5 for each game played. Option B: $10
for each game played. After how many games will
the total cost of the two options be the same?
13.) In one week, a music store sold 9 guitars for a
total of $3611. Electric guitars sold for $479 each
and acoustic guitars sold for $339 each. How many
of each type of guitar were sold?
10.) You worked 14 hours last week and earned a
total of $96 before taxes. Your job as a lifeguard
pays $8 per hour and your job as a cashier pays $6
per hour. How many hours did you work at each
job?
14.) An adult pass for a county fair costs $2 more
than a children’s pass. When 378 adult and 214
children’s passes were sold, the total revenue was
$2384. Find the cost of an adult pass.
11.) During one calendar year, a state trooper issued
a total of 375 citations for warnings and speeding
tickets. Of these, there were 37 more warnings than
speeding tickets. How many warnings and how
many speeding tickets were issued?
15.) A nut wholesaler sells a mix of peanuts and
cashews. The wholesaler charges $2.80 per pound
for peanuts and $5.30 per pound for cashews. The
mix is to sell for $3.30 per pound. How many
pounds of peanuts and how many pounds of
cashews should be used to make 100 pounds of the
mix?
12.) A movie theatre charges $9 for an adult’s ticket
and $6 for a child’s ticket. One Friday night, the
theatre sold a total of 848 tickets for $6711. How
many tickets of each type were sold?
16.) You are on the prom decorating committee and
are in charge of buying balloons. You want to you
both latex and Mylar balloons. The latex balloons
cost $.10 each and the Mylar balloons cost $.50 each.
You need 125 balloons and you have $32.50 to
spend. How many of each can you buy?