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Word Problems: Translating English Into Math

This document provides guidance on translating word problems into mathematical equations. It lists common math symbols and their word equivalents. It emphasizes that any statements involving "less than" should reverse the order when translating. Examples are given to demonstrate the translation process and how to handle phrases involving "and", products, sums, differences, and more. Key steps include translating words to symbols, watching for order reversals, and using parentheses when multiple operations are nested.

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79 views2 pages

Word Problems: Translating English Into Math

This document provides guidance on translating word problems into mathematical equations. It lists common math symbols and their word equivalents. It emphasizes that any statements involving "less than" should reverse the order when translating. Examples are given to demonstrate the translation process and how to handle phrases involving "and", products, sums, differences, and more. Key steps include translating words to symbols, watching for order reversals, and using parentheses when multiple operations are nested.

Uploaded by

Yeppeudda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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WORD PROBLEMS

Translating English into Math

Math Symbols
+ – × ÷ =

plus minus times divided by equals


sum of difference of product of quotient of is equal to
added to subtracted from multiplied by over is
more than less than twice per total…is
increased by decreased by doubled, tripled, etc… into the same as
greater than ratio of the result is

Others Math Symbols


“is less than” <
“is less than or equal to” ≤
“is greater than” >
“is greater than or equal to” ≥
“squared” Raise to the power of 2 example: n 2
“cubed” Raise to the power of 3 example: n 3
“a number”, “a value”, etc These unknowns turn into variables, such as x or n

IMPORTANT!!!
Always reverse the order for any statements that have
“less than” or “subtracted from”.
“A number less than five” would translate to “ 5 − n ” or

“10 subtracted from a number” would translate to “ n − 10 ”

The word “total” means add all the values and set equal to.

“The total of ten, twenty and a number is sixty” would translate to “ 10 + 20 + n = 60 ”.

The phrase “greater than” differs from the phrase “is greater than” where “greater
than” represents adding some value(s) and the phrase “is greater than” represents
an inequality. The same goes for “less than” phrases.

“Six greater than five” would translate to “ 6 + 5 ”

Whereas

“A number is greater than four” would translate to “ x > 4 ”.


EXAMPLE

It is helpful to translate the words into symbols first.


Twice a number less than four is equal to six times a number plus five.
2 n – 4 = 6 × n + 5

REVERSE THE ORDER WHERE


THERE IS A “LESS THAN”
So, we can translate this into the equation  4 − 2 n = 6n + 5
Note:
The one thing to be clear about is “and” has no direct translation. We might have used the
phrase “two and three is five” to mean 2 + 3 = 5. However, “and” is used to link two items and
depending on the word in front, “and” will be replace by the appropriate symbol.

For example:
Sum of 2 and a number Difference of 4 and a number
2+x 4–x
Product of 6 and a number Quotient of a number and ten
6x n ÷ 10

NOW TRY SOME ON YOUR OWN…

1) If a number is increased by the product of the number and ten, the result is the number squared plus five.

Note:
When there is a product of more than one item, parenthesis is used.
For example: Seven times the sum of a number and four translates to  7 ( x + 4 )

2) The difference of six and three times the sum of five and a number is nine less than the number.

ANSWERS: 1) x + 10 x = x 2 + 5 , 2) 6 − 3(5 + x ) = x − 9

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