Word Problem Wednesday: Spin the Wheel, Win a Prize!

Jun 7, 2017 | Cottonwood Heights

Step right up boys and girls! Step right up for a fun math challenge, because this week’s Word Problem has our heads spinning! Give it a try for yourself.

A spinning prize wheel has four different varieties of prizes. 40% of the prizes are items from a prize case. 30% of the prizes are tickets to a concert. 20% of the prizes are cash. The other 2 prizes are all-expense-paid trips. How many total prizes are on the wheel?

Take a minute to work it out, we know you can do it!

Solution: First we need to know what percentage of the prizes are all-expense-paid trips. The rest of the prizes add up to 40% + 30% + 20% = 90%, so the other 10% of the prizes are all-expense-paid trips. If 2 is 10%, or one tenth, of the total, then there are 2 × 10 = 20 prizes on the wheel.

After all that, we think YOU deserve a prize! Go reward yourself with something fun. We'll see you back here for next week's Word Problem Wednesday!