Solving Word Problems

This unit is just a little advice on word problems. There is no magic or big secret involved in solving word problems. Practice seems to be the best help.

Below are some steps that people have found helpful in solving word problems.

Read the entire problem and decide what it is asking you to find.

         EX: Mary has 5 children (ages 16, 14, 11, 9, and 5). Joe has 3 children (ages 8, 3, and 1).
                 Christine has 1 child (age 9). What is the total number of children between Mary, Joe, and
                 Christine?

Which of the following accurately restates what is being asked for?

(a) How many children are age 9?

(b) What is the difference between the oldest child’s age and the youngest child’s age?

The answer is c.

It is often helpful to draw a picture or diagram so you can visualize the problem.

Decide what information is useful in solving the problem and what information we do not need.

EX: In the above problem, we need the number of children each person has but we do not need
their ages.

For some problems you may find that there is not enough information given to solve the problem.

Decide what operation(s) you need to use in order to solve the problem. The operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, powers, and roots. The problem may require more than one operation.

EX: To solve the above problem, you would need to use addition.

Remember there are certain words that suggest operations; such as sum indicates addition, quotient
indicates division, how much more indicates subtraction, etc.

It is now time to actually perform the arithmetic.

EX: The above problem requires the following computation: 5 + 3 + 1 = 9

Make sure you have performed the computation(s) correctly by checking your work when you
finish.

The last step is the one that many people fail to do; yet, it is an important as the previous steps. Make sure you answered the question that was asked and make sure your answer makes sense.

EX: Our example asked how many total children and that is what we found.
Nine is a reasonable answer.

Remember the obvious. You can’t have parts of people. If something requires 2.3 people, you will
have to have 3 people. You can’t buy parts of gallons of paint, etc.

Check out the following links for more help on word problems:

http://www.studygs.net/mathproblems.htm

http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/AS/706.htm

http://www.cambrianc.on.ca/_Facilities_Services/TLC/PDFs/Math/How%20To%20Solve%20Word%20Problems.pdf