Solving Variable Equations: Real-Life Word Problems

A store sells pencils for $2 each and erasers for $3 each. If you buy 5 pencils and 2 erasers, how much do you spend? Write an equation to represent the total cost and solve for the total amount spent.

• $14

• $10

• $16

• $12

Maria has twice as many marbles as John. If John has x marbles, write an equation to represent the number of marbles Maria has and solve for x if the total number of marbles is 30.

• 20

• 10

• 15

• 5

A car rental company charges a flat fee of $50 plus $0.20 per mile driven. If you drove m miles, write an equation for the total cost and find out how many miles you can drive if you want to spend $70.

• 100 miles

• 200 miles

• 150 miles

• 50 miles

In a classroom, the number of boys is 3 less than twice the number of girls. If there are g girls, write an equation to represent the number of boys and solve for g if there are 15 boys in total.

• 6

• 9

• 12

• 18

A baker makes cookies and sells them for $1 each. If he sells x cookies, he makes $20 more than he spends on ingredients, which cost $15. Write an equation to find out how many cookies he sold.

• 40

• 35

• 25

• 30

A gardener has 4 times as many flowers as shrubs. If the total number of flowers and shrubs is 60, write an equation to represent the relationship and solve for the number of shrubs.

• 15

• 20

• 8

• 12

A video game costs $60. If you have a discount of $15, write an equation to find out how much you will pay after the discount and solve for the final price.

• $30

• $45

• $60

• $50

Two friends, Alex and Jamie, are saving money for a concert. Alex has $30 more than Jamie. If Jamie has y dollars, write an equation to represent Alex's savings and solve for y if they have a total of $150.

• 45

• 90

• 60

• 75

A swimming pool can be filled by two hoses. The first hose can fill the pool in 4 hours, while the second hose can fill it in 6 hours. Write an equation to find out how long it will take to fill the pool using both hoses together and solve for the time.

• 1.5 hours

• 5 hours

• 2.4 hours

• 3 hours

A bookstore sells novels for $10 each and textbooks for $25 each. If you buy n novels and t textbooks, and spend a total of $200, write an equation to represent this situation and solve for the number of novels if you bought 5 textbooks.

• 10

• 6

• 7

• 8