Systems of Equations - Word Problems

Using any method of solving systems of linear equations, find the solution to
each of the real-world word problems below. You may use a calculator. Show
all your work in an organized manner and identify your variables clearly.

1.​ Ava has 60 coins consisting of quarters (25 cents) and dimes (10 cents). The
coins combined value is $9.45. Find out how many of each quarters and dimes
Ava has.

2. ​ Jack has 130 coins consisting of nickels (5 cents) and quarters (25 cents). ​
The coins combined value comes to $15.90. Find out how many of each coin
Jack has.

3. ​ Beth is counting a cash register at the end of the night. She has $1,015 in $5 bills
and $10 bills. If she has 138 bills all together, how many of each type does she
have?

4. ​ 148 people attend a local play at the Black Box. Students get tickets for $3, while
parents have to pay $6.50. If the total revenue for the play came to $654, how
many students and parents came to the play?

5. ​ Aniket runs a food cart and during a busy outdoor festival he sold $586 worth of
food. He sells hot dogs for $3 and steak sandwiches for $10. If he sold a total of
88 items that day, how many of each item did he sell?

6.​ 1,500 people attend a banquet at Universal Studios. Residents paid $70 and
non-residents paid $90. If Universal Studios made $116,000 from ticket sales for
the event, how many residents and non-residents attended?

Note: Questions 7 - 13 are Challenging!

7. ​ Aanya invests $8,600 into two accounts. A bond account earns 3% interest, while
a stocks account earns 5% interest. After 1 year she made $370 interest from
both accounts. How much was originally invested into each account?

8. ​ Lana invests $15,600 into two different accounts; a savings account and a
Long-Term Deposit account. The savings account earns 0.5% interest and the
Long-Term Deposit earns 1.5%. After 1 year she has earned $171 interest. How
much did Lana invest into each account?

9. ​ Your mentor group invested $20,440 into two accounts. A less risky “retirement”
account earned 2.5% interest and a more risky “aggressive” account earned
3.4% interest. The group earned $623.05 for the investment in one year. How
much did the group invest into each account?
10. ​Madie wants to make a coffee mixture to sell. She is going to mix Sumatra coffee
which costs $2.50 per pound with Columbian coffee which costs $3.75 per
pound. She wants to make 50 pounds of mix and she wants the cost of the mix to
be $3.35 per pound. How many pounds of each will she need?

11.​ Emma wants to make a mixture of nuts to sell in her store consisting of hazelnuts
and cashews. Hazelnuts cost $6.50 per pound and cashews cost $4.50 per
pound. If Emma wants 60 pounds total of mixture and the cost to be $5.10 per
pound, how many pounds of each will she need?

12.​Alex wants to make 40 liters of 22.5% acid solution. He is going to make it by

mixing a 10% acid and a 30% acid solution. How many liters of each will he
need?

13.​Natalie wants to make 75 liters of 16% acid solution. She is going to make it by
mixing a 10% acid and a 25% acid solution. How many liters of each is needed?

14.​A plane can travel 1,015 miles in 7 hours traveling against the wind. Traveling
with the same wind, the plane can travel 820 miles in 4 hours. How fast can the
plane travel in still air (ground speed) and how fast is the wind current (wind
speed)?

15.​Nikhil can ride a bike 162 miles on flat ground in 6 hours with a good breeze at
his back. It takes him 10 hours to go 90 miles with the same breeze working
against him. How fast is Nikhil going on a bike and how fast is the wind speed?

16.​It takes Esha 10 hours to paddle upstream (against the current) a distance of 15
km. When she turns around she finds it only takes her 5 hours to paddle 22.5 km
with the current. How fast is Esha’s raft going in still water and what is the speed
of the current of the river assuming Esha doesn’t fall out of the raft?

17.​A raft going upstream (against the current) travels 105 km in 15 hours. It takes
the same raft 7.5 hours to make the same trip when it is traveling back
downstream (with the current). What is the speed of the raft in still water and
what is the speed of the current of the river?

18.​Students wanting to continue their adventure can fly from Singapore to a small
village in northern Hokkaido which is approximately 6,175 miles. On the way to
Hokkaido from Singapore (against the wind) the flight took 13 hours. The return
flight (with the wind) took 9.88 hours. Find the speed of the small plane in still air
and the speed of the wind current.

19.​Tom is 4 times as old as Jerry. 12 years ago, Tom was 16 times as old as Jerry.
How old are Tom and Jerry now?

20. In three more years, Richard’s grandfather will be six times as old as Richard was
last year. When Richard’s present age is added to his grandfather's present age,
the total is 68. How old is each one now?
21.​When you reverse the digits in a certain two digit number you increase its value
by 45. Find the number if the sum of its digits is 7.

22.​When you reverse the digits in a certain two-digit number you decrease its value
by 18. Can you find the number if the sum of its digits is 10?

23.​Josh was eating a bag of snacks. Lucas asked him to share and Josh happily
agreed. Josh ate 10 chips and 7 chocolates and the total calories were 263.
Lucas ate 4 chips and 8 chocolates and the total calories were 230. How many
calories are in one chip and how many are in one piece of chocolate?

24.​During a sale, 6 towels and 12 bottles of sanitizer cost $35.10. If you buy 8
towels and 3 bottles of sanitizer, it will cost $27.95. What was the cost of each
towel and the cost of each bottle of sanitizer?

25. 40 adults and 26 kids went to see ‘The Lego Math Movie’ at GTS Theatre at the
first showing and the ticket sales were $486.70. At the next showing, 20 adults
and 31 kids went to see the same movie and the ticket sales were $332.45. How
much was an adult ticket and how much was a child ticket?

26. On one day, Swim&Surf clothing store sold 9 sun shirts and 3 board shorts for a
total of $899.40. The next day they sold 12 sun shirts and 2 board shorts for a
total of $1,139.30. How much is the cost of each sun shirt and how much is each
board short?
Answers​
Make sure you correct your work and seek help if you are
unsure about the steps and strategy to take.

1) 23 quarters and 37 dimes

2) 83 nickels and 47 quarters
3) 73 five dollar bills and 65 ten dollar bills
4) 88 students and 60 parents
5) 42 Hot Dogs and 46 Steak Sands
6) 950 residents and 550 non-residents
7) $3,000 in the bond account and $5,600 in the stocks account
8) $6,300 in the savings account and $9,300 in the Long-Term Deposit account
9) 7,990 in 2.5% and $12,450 in 3.4%
10) 16 lbs. of Sumatra and 34 lbs. of Columbian
11) 18 lbs Hazelnuts and 42 lbs. Cashews
12) 15 liters of 10% solution and 25 liters of 30% solution
13) 45 liters of 10% solution and 30 liters of 25% solution
14) Plane speed=175 mph, Wind speed= 30 mph
15) Bike speed =18 mph, Wind speed = 9 mph
16) Raft speed = 3 km/h, Water current = 1.5 km/h
17) Raft Speed = 10.5 km/h and Water current = 3.5 km/h
18) Plane speed = 550 mph and Wind speed = 75 mph
19) Tom is 60 years old and Jerry is 15 years old.
20) The grandfather is 57 years old and Richard is presently 11 years old.
21) The number is 16
22) The number is 64
23) Each chip = 9.5 calories and each piece of chocolate = 24 calories
24) Each towel = $2.95 and each sanitizer = $1.45
25) One adult ticket = $8.95 and one child ticket = $4.95
26) Each sun shirt = $89.95 and each board shorts= $29.95​