Lower Elementary:
Question: Wendy buys 6 apples. If each apple costs 99 cents, how much does Wendy spend in total?
Answer: $5.94
Solution: 99 cents is one cent less than a dollar. To find the total for 6 apples, add one dollar for each apple and then subtract one cent for each apple. $6.00 minus 6 cents is $5.94.
Upper Elementary:
Question: Tommy is packing away comic books in boxes. He has a total of 256 comic books and 6 boxes. He keeps his 4 favorites and then packs the rest. If he puts an equal amount in each box, how many comic books does he put in each box?
Answer: 42 comic books per box
Solution: First, we find out how many comic books Tommy is packing away. Since he is keeping 4, subtract 4 from the total. 256 – 4 = 252. He puts an equal amount in each box, so divide the total by the number of boxes to see how many go in each. 252 ÷ 6 = 42 comic books per box.
Middle School:
Question: A new pair of shoes costs $73.44 including tax. If tax is 8%, what is the original cost of the shoes?
Answer: $68
Solution: The total cost is made up of 2 parts: the original cost of the shoes and the tax amount. The tax amount is calculated by multiplying the tax percent times the original price. As an equation, it would be n = p + pt = p × (1 + t) where n is the new price, p is the original price, and t is the tax (as a decimal). Thus our equation becomes
$73.44 = p(1+0.08)
$73.44 = 1.08p
To get the original price, divide both sides by 1.08. $73.44 ÷ 1.08 = $68. The original price of the shoes are $68.
Algebra and Up:
Question: Rex has a bag of candy. There are 20 pieces inside: 5 red ones, 4 green ones, 8 purple ones, and 3 orange ones. He will pick one candy at random, eat it, reach in and grab another piece of candy, and eat that one. What is the probability that both the pieces he eats are red?
Answer: 1/19
Solution: The probability that the first piece is red is 5/20, which reduces to 1/4. Since he ate the first piece, there are now 19 pieces to choose from. There are now 4 red pieces left, so the probability that the second piece is red is 4/19. To find the probability that both pieces are red, we multiply the two probabilities together: 1/4 × 4/19 = 1/19. There is a 1/19 probability that both pieces of candy eaten are red.
