Writing Expressions to Represent Word Problems

Jessica walked 5 miles 4 days a week. If she did this for 7 weeks, which expression represents how many miles she walked?

• 7 x (4 x 5)

• 7 x (4 + 5)

• (4 x 5) + 7

• 5 x (4 + 7)

Answer explanation

Each week Jessica walks for 4 days and walks 5 miles for each of those day, so 4 sets of 5 or 4 x 5. If she continues this for 7 weeks, we would multiply 7 times the amount she walks in one week.

Tags

CCSS.5.OA.A.1

CCSS.5.OA.A.2

Nadia earned $3 a week. Nathan earned $4 a week. Which expression represent how much they earn together after four weeks?

• (3 + 4) x 4

• 3 + (4 x 4)

• (3 x 4) x 4

• (3 x 4) + 4

Answer explanation

Nadia and Nathan combine, or add, their money each week: $3 plus $4. If they do this for four week, they will multiply the amount the get in one week by 4 weeks.

Tags

CCSS.5.OA.A.1

CCSS.5.OA.A.2

Katie earns $2 each time she does a chore. She does 10 chores. Then she gets $25 for her birthday. Which expression represents how much money she has?

• (10 x 2) + 25

• (10 + 2) +25

• 25 - (10 x 2)

• 10 + (2 x 25)

Answer explanation

If Katie makes $2 for each chore and she does 10 chores, she can multiply 10 by $2. She also got an additional $25 for her birthday, so we would find the sum of her chore money and birthday money.

Tags

CCSS.5.OA.A.1

CCSS.5.OA.A.2

Mrs. Jones makes 3 copies for science and 8 copies for math each week for each student. Mrs. Jones has 27 students. Which expression represents how many copies Mrs. Jones makes each week?

• 27 x (3 + 8)

• (3 x 8) x 27

• (3 x 8) + 27

• 27 - (3 + 8)

Answer explanation

Each student will get 11 papers (3 + 8). If there are 27 students, she will make 27 sets of 11.

Tags

CCSS.5.OA.A.1

CCSS.5.OA.A.2

The Eats More Cookies bakery sells bags of 6 cookies. Twenty-eight bags fit into a box. Which expression represents the number of cookies there are in 8 boxes?

• (6 x 28) x 8

• (6 + 28) x 8

• 6 + (28 x 8)

• (6 x 8) - 28

Answer explanation

The bakery has 28 bags in a box with 6 cookies in each bag. To find out how many cookies are in each box, they multiply 28 sets of 6. If they have 6 boxes of these bags of cookies, they would multiply the number of cookies in each box by 6.

Tags

CCSS.5.OA.A.1

CCSS.5.OA.A.2

Lillian had 48 balloons. Half of her balloons popped while she inflated them. Then she gave 6 to her brother. Which expression represents how many balloons she has left?

• (48 x 2) - 6

• 48 - (2 + 6)

Answer explanation

Lilliana started with 48 balloons and half popped, so we first divide by 2. Then she gave her brother 6 of the remaining balloons, which is subtracting.

Tags

CCSS.6.EE.B.6

A teacher has 6 boxes of pencils. There are 48 pencils in each box. There are 16 students in the class who will share the pencil equally. Which expression represents how many pencils each student will get?

• (6 x 48) - 16

• 48 - (6 + 16)

Answer explanation

First we need to find out how many pencils there are in all. If there are 6 boxes and each has 48 pencils, we would multiply 6 and 48. Since each student will share the total number of pencils equally, we will divide all of the pencils by 16 students.

Tags

CCSS.3.OA.D.8

Carlene will make some cookies. The recipe uses 4 cups of flour to make 24 cookies. She has 8 cups of flour and she will use all of the flour. Which expression represents how many cookies Carlene will make?

• 4 x 24 x 8

• 8 + 4 x 24

Answer explanation

The first thing we need to find out is how many batches of cookies she will be able to make. A single batch (one recipe) uses 4 cups of flour. To find out how many batches she can make, we divide 8 by 4. Now that we know how many batches she will make, we multiply by 24 since each batch makes 24 cookies.

Tags

CCSS.7.EE.B.3

Lionel sell 3 video games for $15 each. He then pays $18 he owes to his sister. Which expression shows how many dollars Lionel has left?

• 3 x 15 - 18

• 3 x (15 - 18)

• 18 - (3 x 15)

• (18 - 3) x 15

Answer explanation

The first thing we need to find out is how much money Lionel earned selling his video game. To find this, we multiply 3 sets of $15. Since he owes his sister money, he will subtract that money from the money he earned.

Tags

CCSS.HSA-SSE.A.1A

Percy has 4 boxes of cookies. Each box has 6 rows of cookies with 9 cookies in each row. Which expression can be used to find the number of cookies that Percy has?

• 4 x 6 x 9

• 9 x (4 + 6)

• 4 x (6 + 9)

• 4 x 6 + 9

Answer explanation

If you visualize each box, you will see an array of cookies with 7 rows of 9 cookies in each. Making arrays means we will be multiplying to find out how many cookies are in one box. If she has 4 boxes of these cookies, we can ten multiply the number of cookies in one box by 4 boxes.

Tags

CCSS.5.OA.A.1

CCSS.5.OA.A.2