SOLVING WORD PROBLEMS WITH DIVISION

Use a strategy of your choice to solve each problem.

Problem 1:

There are 5 times as many tulips as rose bushes in a garden. There are 15 tulips. How many rose bushes are in the garden?

Solution :

Let x be a number of rose bushes.

Number of tulips = 5(number of rose bushes)

5x = 15

x = 15/5

x = 3

There are 3 rose bushes in the garden.

Problem 2 :

Kelly has 2 times as many quarters as dimes. She has 18 quarters. How many dimes does she have?

Solution :

Let x be the dimes.

2x = 18

x = 18/2

x = 9

Kelly has 9 dimes.

Problem 3 :

There are 18 blueberries in a bowl. There are 3 times as many blueberries as strawberries in the bowl. How many strawberries are in the bowl?

Solution :

Let x be the strawberries.

Number of blue berries in a bowl = 18

Number of blue berries = 3 number of strawberries

3x = 18

x = 18/3

x = 6

There are 6 strawberries in the bowl.

Problem 4 :

Amanda swims for 16 minutes. This is 4 times as many minutes as Julio swims. How many minutes does Julio swim?

Solution :

Let x be the Julio swim.

Time taken for Amanda = 16

Time taken for Julio = 4(time taken for Amanda)

4x = 16

x = 16/4

x = 4

Julio swims 4 minutes.

Problem 5 :

A tile pattern has 6 times as many white squares as gray squares. There are 48 white tiles in the pattern. How many gray tiles are there?

Solution :

Let x be the gray tiles.

6x = 48

x = 48/6

x = 8

There are 8 gray tiles in the pattern.

Problem 6 :

Leah has 3 times as many country songs as she has pop songs on her MP3 player. She has 27 country songs. How many pop songs Leah have?

Solution :

Let x be the pop songs.

Number of country songs she has = 27

Number of country songs = 3(number of pop songs)

3x = 27

x = 27/3

x = 9

Leah has 9 pop songs.

Problem 7 :

Erik sees 42 stars in the sky on Tuesday night. This is 7 times as many as he sees on Monday night. How many stars does Erik see on Monday night?

Solution :

Let x be the stars on Monday night.

Number of stars sees by Erik on Tuesday = 42

7x = 42

x = 42/7

x = 6

Erik sees 6 stars on Monday night.

Problem 8 :

Lucas spends 72 minutes cleaning his room. This is 8 times as long as it takes him to wash the dishes. How long does it take Lucas to wash the dishes?

Solution :

Number of minutes taken by Lucas = 72

Let x be the number of minutes taken by him to wash his dishes.

8x = 72

x = 72/8

x = 9

It takes Lucas 9 minutes to wash the dishes.