Unit 2 (Part 2) - Equations: Name:______________________________________________ Per.

_____

WRITING & USING EQUATIONS in problem situations

Equations are useful in solving many problems.
When using an equation to solve a problem, we will use the following plan.

Once we have read and understood the problem, we will

1. Define a variable.
(Ask yourself, what is unknown in the problem?)
2. Write the equation.
3. Solve
You should always look back and make sure your answer makes sense.

Example 1: The cost of a large pizza is $9. Additional toppings cost $1.25 each.
How many toppings were ordered if the cost of a pizza is $16.50?

Plan:
# of toppings
1. Define the variable. Let x = ______________________________________________
(Ask yourself what is unknown……What are you trying to find?)

2. Write the equation. Cost is 1.25 per topping plus 9 dollars

9+1.25=16.50
3. Solve.

Example 2: Together, Ann and Bob have 27 CD’s Ann has 3 less than twice the amount
that Bob has. How many CD’s does each of them have?

Define: Ann = 2x - 3 = 17
Bob = x = 10

Write: 3x-3=27

Solve: x=10

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Example 3: Suppose the temperature in your town is 21º F and rising 1.5º F every hour.
Your friend lives far away, and the temperature in his town is 28º and falling 2º F
every hour. In how many hours will the temperatures be equal?

STEP 1: Define a variable:

x = hours passed

STEP 2: Write an equation: temperature in your town same as temperature in friend’s town
28 - 2x
21 + 1.5x =

STEP 3:

2 hours will pass before it is equal

Example 4: The sum of 3 numbers is 44. Find 3 numbers if the first number is 2 less than
3 times the second. The third number is twice the first.

Define:

1st = 3x-2 = 13
2nd = x = 5
3rd = 2(3x-2) = 26

Write: 10x-6 = 44

Solve: 5

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Practice:
Write and solve an equation for each of the following problems. Be sure to start by defining your variable.
1. Kim has a job where she makes $8 per hour 2. One book club charges a $30 annual fee and also
plus tips. Yesterday, Kim made $53. If Kim charges $5 per book. Another company charges
made $13 in tips, how many hours did she work? $8 per book with no annual fee. Find the number
of books where the cost of the two clubs is the
8x + 13 = 53 same.
30 + 5x = 8x
5 hours
10

3. A number increased by 9 is -12. 4. 4 times a number decreased by 7 is 13.

Find the number. Find the number.

x + 9 = -12 4x - 7 = 13

x = -21
x=5

5. Twice the sum of a number and 6 is 48. 6. The sum of twice a number and 3 times a number
Find the number. is 50. Find the number.

7. Jackson sold t-shirts for $12 each. 8. A balloon is 70 feet off the ground. The height is
The t-shirts Terry sold were $15 each. increasing at a rate of 30 feet per minute. Another
Jackson sold 8 more than Terry. balloon is 950 feet off the ground. The height is
Together, they collected $717 in sales. decreasing at a rate of 80 feet per minute. In how
How many t-shirts did each of the kids sell? many minutes will the balloons be at the same height?

Terry = x + 8 = 31
Jackson = x = 23

12(x+8)+15 = 717

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9. A tree is 4 feet high when planted. It grows 10. Shawn bought 12 slices of pizza for his
at a rate of 2.5 feet every year. A second tree friends and a milkshake for himself. The
is 6.5 feet high when planted. It grows at a rate milkshake was $4. How much was a slice
of 2 feet every year. In how many years will the of pizza if he paid a total of $25.
trees be equal in height?

11. A town’s population is 14,000, and it is 12. The sum of 3 numbers is -29. Find the
increasing by 160 people every year. A nearby 3 numbers if the third is 5 times the first and
town has a population of 24,000, and it is decreasing the second is 4 more than the third.
by 200 people every year. In about how many years
will the populations of the towns be equal?

13. Mike, who has 6 video games, has half 14. Sean sold 4 more boxes of candy for the school
as many games as Paul. How many video fundraiser than Marta. The sum of the boxes they
games does Paul have? sold was 22. How many boxes did each sell?

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 At times, we use formulas to solve problems.
A formula is an equation that may contain several variables.
1. Plug in what is given.
2. Solve the equation for the unknown.

d = rt
d = distance (miles) r = rate t = time (hours)

15. Use the formula to determine the following.

a. A car travels at a rate of 50 mph for 3.5 b. An object travels 300 miles in 2.5 hours.
hours. How far will the car travel? How fast is the object traveling?

175 miles

c. A car travels at a rate of 62 mph for 2 hours d. An object travels 1,040 miles in 4 hours and 20
and 45 minutes. How far will the car travel? minutes. How fast is the object traveling?

170.5 miles

16. Find the side lengths of the triangle. 17. Find the side lengths of the triangle.
The perimeter is 21 inches. The perimeter is 41 cm.

P=s+s+s

The side lengths are: ______, _______, & ________ The side lengths are: ______, _______, & ________
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18. Find the dimensions of a rectangle whose 19. Find the dimensions of a rectangle
perimeter is 28. The length is 2 less than 3 times whose perimeter is 64 ft. The length is
the width. 2 more than 4 times the width.
Width = w P = 2l + 2w Width = P = 2l + 2w
Length = 3w – 2

20. Find the measures of the angles of a triangle. 21. Find the measures of the angles of a
The first angle is twice the second. triangle. The first angle is twice the
The third angle is 5 more than the first. second. The third angle is 5 more than 4 times
the second.
1st angle = 2x
2nd angle = x = 35
2x + 5
3rd angle = ______________
Equation:

5x + 5 = 180

Remember, formulas are equations.

At times, using a formula may simply involve plugging into a formula.

The formula to convert the temperature from degrees Celcius, C, to degrees Farenheit, F is written below.
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C = (F − 32)
9

20. Use the formula to determine the following.

a. 59º F = ________ C b. 113º F = ________C c. 20º C = ________ F d. -10º C = ________ F

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More Practice
1. The perimeter of a rectangle if 56 m. 2. The perimeter of a rectangle is 36 ft.
The length is 3 times the width. Find the The length is 3 more than twice the width.
dimensions of the rectangle. Find the dimensions of the rectangle.

3. Jack has $130 and saves $15 per week. 4. A room has 1 large table and 6 small
Sam has $550 and spends $20 per week. tables. At the large table, there are 12
When will Sam and Jack have the same people. How many people are seated at each
amount of money? small table if there are a total of 48 people
in the room. (Each small table has the same Let
amount of people seated at it.)

5. Nick wants to purchase a bike that costs $310. 6. A man weighs 225 pounds. His goal
He has $150 and plans to save $40 per month. weight is 185 pounds. If he loses 4 pounds
In how many months will Nick have enough to per week, how long will it take him to reach
purchase the bike? his goal?

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 7. Charlie works at a restaurant and makes 8. Lesley bought 4 pizzas and 15 drinks for
$5 per hour plus tips. One night he earned for her friends and spent $86.46. If each
$32 in tips and a total of $57. How many drink was $1.50, how much was each pizza?
hours did Charlie work that night? Assume all 4 pizzas were the same price.

8. Train A travels 525 miles in 7 hours. 9. The Smith family travels 210 miles in 3 hours.
Train B travels for 3 hours and 45 minutes The Carters travel for 4.5 hours and go 306
and goes 262.5 miles. Which train was miles. Which family was traveling at a faster
traveling at a faster rate? rate?

10. Box A is filled with cans that weigh 12 oz. 11. One tower of toy blocks is 5 more than 3
each. Box B contains 6 less than twice as many times the height of another. If the towers are
cans as Box A. Each can in Box B is 10 oz. stacked on top of each other, their total height is
Together, the total cans weigh 708 oz. How 49 inches. Find the height of each tower.
many cans are in each box?

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12. Find the length of each side of the triangle. 13. The perimeter of a rectangle is 84 inches.
The perimeter is 32m. Find the dimensions if the length is 2 more
than 3 times the width.

Additional Practice:
Solve the following equations. Show all of your work.
1 1
1. 3(x + 8) = 4 – (2x – 5) 2. . (6x − 2) = (3x +1) 3. 4[2x -3(x + 8)] = -20
4 2

3 1 3 1 1
4. − x+5= 5. x + 2 = 11 6. (4x +16) = (6x + 24)
4 3 5 2 3

3 1 1 1
7. (2x + 5) = (x − 3) 8. (4x + 8) = (16x +12) 9. -3(2x + 1) = -6x -9
5 3 2 4

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Write an algebraic expression for each.
10. 6 less than 4 times a number, x _________________ 11. 8 times the sum of a number, x, and 9 ____________
12. four-fifths of a number, x ___________________ 13. the quotient of x, and 2 ____________

14. The perimeter of the triangles is the same.

Find the side lengths of each triangle.
AB ________ BC _______ AC ________

XY ________ YZ _______ XZ ________

Write an equation to find the solution to each problem. Be sure to define your variable.
15. At a dance, there were 210 kids. There were 16. One number is 1 more than twice the other.
44 more girls than boys. How many girls were at If their sum is tripled the result is 84.
the dance? Find the numbers.

17. Lauren is selling cookies for $1.25 each. Kenzie is selling

cookies for $1.50 each. Lauren sold 28 more than Kenzie.
Together, the collected $169.75. How many did each girl sell?

Solve each of the formulas for the indicated variable. You may need a separate piece of paper.
18. V = Bh for h 19. y = mx + b for x 20. C = 2πr for r 21.. e = mc 2 for m
1 1 KT
22. V = Bh for B 23. A = bh for b 24.. I = Pr t for r 25.. V = for T
3 2 P

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