Problems of the Week: September 7 - 11

Lower Elementary:

Question: Michael’s soccer team is having a bake sale. They bake 2 each of 3 kinds of pie, then cut each pie into 8 slices. How many slices of pie can Michael’s soccer team sell at their bake sale?

Answer:  48 slices

Solution:  The team makes 2 × 3 = 6 pies. If each pie is cut into 8 slices, that’s 6 × 8 = 48 slices in total.

Upper Elementary:

Question: Katie is comparing the prices of 4 different pies. A cherry pie costs $6.00. A chocolate cream pie costs $11.00. A blueberry pie costs $7.00. A peach pie costs the average price of all 4 of the pies. How much does the peach pie cost?

Answer:  $8.00

Solution:  If the average of all 4 pies is the same as the price of the peach pie, then the average of the first 3 pies must be equal to the price of the peach pie. To find the average price of the pies, we add the prices of the first 3 pies together, then divide by 3.

$6.00 + $11.00 + $7.00 = $24.00

$24.00 ÷ 3 = $8.00

Middle School:

Question: Daniel orders a pumpkin pie from a bakery. The pie costs $16.60. He tips the baker 15% rounded up to the next dollar. By how much money does Daniel round the tip?

Answer:  $0.51

Solution:  To find 15% of $16.60, we multiply $16.60 × 0.15 = $2.49. If Daniel rounds up to the next dollar, he will round by $3.00 – $2.49 = $0.51.

Algebra and Up:

Question: Soren and his family share a lemon meringue pie that weighs 2 pounds. Soren takes a slice whose angle measures 40°. How much does the remaining pie weigh?

Answer:  1⁷/₉ pounds

Solution:  After Soren takes a 40° slice, there are 320° of pie left. That’s 320 ÷ 360 = ⁸/₉ of the pie, and ⁸/₉ of 2 pounds is 1⁷/₉ pounds of pie.