LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
LESSON 1 KEY - NUMBER & QUANTITY
A) USING THE CALCULATOR
1) Diana went shopping and purchased items at $39.23, $109.01, and $41.24. On her
way home she bought $25.65 worth of gas. If she makes $15/hour, what is the
minimum number of hours she will need to work to pay for these purchases?
$39.23 $109.01 $41.24 $25.65 $215.13
b) 15 $215.13 15 14.342
so she will have to work for 15 hours!
2) In which of the following are the numbers ordered from least to greatest?
2 1 3
a) 2, , , Think in terms of money.
3 11 7 For example, - 2 is $ -2.00
2 1 3
2, , ,
3 11 7
2.00 .67 .09 .43
3
3) is less than which of these?
7
a)
1
b)
4
c)
5
d)
1
e) 6
8 17 13 10 11
.13 .24 .38 .10 .55 3 6
.43 .55
7 11
Since .43 is less than .55,
3 6
then is less than .
7 11
P. 1 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
1 16 27
, , p, ,
3 7 8
4) The five numbers shown above are listed in order from least to greatest.
Which of the following could be the value of p?
Indicate all such values.
a) 19 4.36 16
p must be between 2.29 and 3.14.
7
61 The choices that are between 2.29 and 3.14 are
b) 3.05
61
20 b) 3.05 & c) 129 2.58
20 50
129
c) 2.58
50
d)10 = 3.16
161
e) = 3.22
50
5) Which of the following is true? Raise each term to the 3rd power.
3
33 3
60 43
a) 3 60 4
3
27 60 64
Since 60 is between 27 & 64,
the cube root of 60 or
3
60 is between 3 & 4.
5, 14, 41, 122, 365, 1094……
6) In this sequence of numbers, 5 is the first number and every number after is 1
less than 3 times the preceding number. What is the seventh number in the list?
“1 less than” means take 1 away from the number. 3281
1 less than 3 times 1094 = 3(1094) – 1 = 3282 – 1 = 3281
P. 2 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
7) If x, y, and z are positive integers and x < y < z, which of the following is the
largest?
Pick some numbers.
a) z x For example, I’ll pick x = 5, y = 20, and z = 400.
a) z – x = 400 – 5 = 395 = largest
b) z – y = 400 – 20 = 380
c) y – z = 20 – 400 = -380
d) x – z = 5 – 400 = -395
e) x – y = 5 – 20 = - 15
You could pick completely different numbers.
As long is x is less than y and y is less than z,
you will still find that the answer is a.
8) The temperature at 9 a.m. was 54 degrees. At 2 p.m. it was 84 degrees.
If the temperature rose at a constant rate all day, what was the temperature
at 1 p.m.?
84 – 54 = 30 degrees 78
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. = 5 hours
30 degrees divided by 5 hours = 6 degrees per hour.
2 p.m.: 84 degrees
1 p.m.: 84 – 6 = 78 degrees
P. 3 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
B) INTRO TO SOLVING EQUATIONS
Solving an equation is like unwrapping a present. We are usually trying to get to 1x or 1y
(or whatever the letter) by itself. We do this by using “opposite” procedures.
Ex. Given x + 5, we would SUBTRACT 5. Given 2x, we would DIVIDE by 2.
To remove a fraction we multiply both sides by the RECIPROCAL of the fraction.
The equal sign separates the equation into a left side & a right side. Whatever we do to one
side, we must do exactly the same thing to the other side!
Here are the 4 basic operations:
CORE
A) x + 10 = 14 B) x – 6 = 3
10 10 +6 +6
X=4 X=9
3 x 3
C) 2x = 10 D) 3 = 10
2 2 1 1
X=5 X = 30
Now let’s do the same 4 types with some negative numbers:
E) x + 3 = 20 F) x – 4 = 1
3 3 +4 +4
X 23 X=3
4 3 4
G) -2x =10 H) 4 x = - 15
2 2 3 3
1
X 5 X 20
P. 4 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
C) RATIO & PROPORTION
1) There are 30 students in the glee club and 10 of them are boys.
What is the ratio of girls to boys?
Girls G 30 10 20 2
2 Boys B 10 10 1
c)
1
(If Ex. 1 had asked for the ratio of boys to girls, the answer would be: 1:2.)
2) If a cooler is filled with 12 cans of coke, 10 cans of beer, and 8 cans of tea,
what is the ratio of cans of coke to total cans?
2 cans of coke 12 6 2
a)
5 total cans 30 6 5
3) If 85% of the students are female, what is the ratio of male to female students?
3
d) 17 If 85% are female, then
100 – 85% or 15% are male.
male 15% 3
female 85% 17
P. 5 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
4) A car was originally sold for $31,395. After 3 years, it is now worth $9,100.
What is the ratio of the original cost to its current value?
d) 3.45
original cost 31395
3.45
current value 9100
5) If Marta needs 3 cups of flour to make 200 cookies, how many cups of
flour will she need to make 500 cookies?
flour1 flour2
a) 7.5 cookies1 cookies2
3 x
200 500
200x 3 500
200x 1500
1500
x 7.5
200
6) Daryl needs to apply fertilizer to the baseball diamond. It has an area of
3800 square feet. One bag of fertilizer covers 180 square feet. What is the least
number of bags of fertilizer that must be purchased?
c) 22 # of bags1 # of bags2
square feet 1 square feet 2
1 x
180 3800
180x 3800
x 21.11
So, he must purchase 22 bags!
(You can't go into the store and
ask for 21.11 bags.)
P. 6 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
2 4
7) Varun walked 2 miles in of an hour.
3 5 miles1 miles2
What was his average speed in
miles per hour? hour1 hour2
2
2
1 3 x
b) 3 4 1
3 5
4 8 2 8
x Note: 2
5 3 3 3
54 58
x
45 43
x
10
3
1
3 3
8) On a map that is drawn to scale, 10 inches represents a distance of x miles. Which
of the following represents the distance, in inches, of x + 1 miles on the map?
10 x 1
b)
x inches1 inches2
miles1 miles2
Let y = missing # of inches.
10 y
cross multiply
x x 1
xy 10 x 1 divide both sides by x
10 x 1
y
x
P. 7 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
9) A college has 20,000 students and the ratio of men to women is 2:3.
How many women attend the college?
d) 12,000
Let 2x = number of men Equation: 2x + 3x = 20000
Let 3x = number of women 5x = 20000
x = 4000 but don’t stop now!
Women = 3x = 3(4000) = 12,000
10) The ratio of the number of lions to the number of zebras in a certain zoo is
7 to 22. If the total number of lions and zebras in the zoo is 232, how many
zebras are in the zoo?
e) 176
Let 7x number of lions
Let 22x number of zebras
7x 22x 29x
29x 232
x 8 but this is not the answer!
zebras 22x 22 8 176
P. 8 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
What if the ratio has three numbers in it?
11) Three thousand people boarded a ship. The ratio of men to women to children
was 3:5:17. How many children boarded the ship?
e) 2040
Let 3x = # of men
Let 5x = # of women
Equation: 3x + 5x + 17x = 3000
Let 17x = # of children 25x = 3000
x = 120
The number of children = 17x = 17(120) = 2040
12) The ratio of cats to dogs to birds to ferrets in a shelter is 8:13:5:3. If there are
2349 of these animals all together, how many dogs are in the shelter?
1053
Let 8x = # of cats
Let 13x = # of dogs
Let 5x = # of birds
Let 3x = # of ferrets
8x + 13x + 5x + 3x = 2349
29x = 2349
x = 81
number of dogs = 13x = 13(81) = 1053
P. 9 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
D) “COULD BE” PROBLEMS
1) If the ratio of men to women is 3:4, which of the following could be the total
number of students?
Since 3 + 4 = 7, the answer
c) 21 must be a multiple of 7. The
number 21, c, is the only one
that 7 goes into evenly.
2) On last Saturday’s test, for every 9 students that passed, 6 students failed.
Which could be the total number of students tested?
a) 165
Since 9 + 6 = 15, the answer
must be a multiple of 15. The
number 165, a, is the only one
that 15 goes into evenly. 165
divided by 15 = 11.
3) For every 4 cokes in the cooler, Sue put in 3 beers. Which could be the total
number of cokes and beers in the cooler?
Choose all that apply.
b) 21
Again, the answer must be a multiple of 7 since 4 + 3 = 7
The two answers, therefore, are:
e) 91
b) 21 = 7(3) and e) 91 = 7(13).
P. 10 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
E) ADDING & SUBTRACTING FRACTIONS WITH THE 1 – 2 – 3 METHOD
1 2 7 +10 17 1 1 3-2 1
1) + = = 2) - = =
5 7 35 35 2 3 6 6
x y
3) Which of the following is equivalent to ?
5 7
7x 5y There is no “work”
e)
35 to show for these
problems. Just
follow the 1 – 2 – 3
pattern.
3x 2y
4) Which of the following is equivalent to ?
5 11
33x 10y 3x 11 5 2y 33x 10y
a)
55 5 11 55
P. 11 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
F) PERCENT INCREASE & DECREASE
Reminder: When it is a percent increase, the “original” is the smaller number.
When it is a percent decrease, the “original” is the larger number.
1) Anita’s math score went from 80 to 100 in 1 week.
What was her percent increase?
difference %
c) 25%
original 100
100 80 20 points difference.
20 x
80 100
1 x
4 100
4x 100
x 25
2) Jack’s weight went from 270 pounds to 180 pounds.
What was his percent decrease?
d) 33%
270 – 180 90 lbs difference.
90 x
270 100
1 x
3 100
3x 100
x 33.3
P. 12 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
10
7
6
3) If the percent increase from 2000 to 2001 is the same as the percent increase
from 2003 to 2004, what was the approximate amount of rainfall in 2004?
a) 11.7 Easy way :
Rainfall in 2000: 6 in. Rainfall in 2001: 10 in. 6 7
10 – 6 4in. difference
10 x
4
x
6x 70
6 100
6x 400 x 11.7
x 67%
Rainfall in 2003 = 7 in.
To increase it by 67%,
multiply .67 times 7 = 4.7
Then add 4.7 to 7 = 11.7
4) A 15 cc injection of allergy medicine must be increased by 20 percent.
What is the new dosage?
b) 18 cc 15 .20 3
15 3 18
or 15(1.20) 18
P. 13 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
G) SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
Ex. a) Write in scientific notation. b) Write in expanded notation.
5,269.123 = 5.269123 x 103 2.85 x 104 = 28500
245 = 2.45 x 102 1.26 x 102 = 126
.0019 = 1.9 x 10-3 3.78 x 10-5 = .0000378
c) Put in correct scientific notation.
34.7 x 108 = 3.47 x 109
2980 x 103 = 2.98 x 106
.0003 x 102 = 3 x 10-2
1) What is 9.453 x 1017
multiplied by 82?
9.453 x 10 82 775.146 x10
17 17
To put 775.146 x 1017 back into scientific
b) 7.75 x 1019 notation, we have to move the decimal place
2 to the left. Since we just made it 2 decimal places
smaller, we have to make the exponent 2 places higher
so change it to 7.75 x 1017 2 19
2) What is 3.78 x 107 multiplied by .0009?
a) 3.402 x 104
3.78 x10 .0009 .003402 x 10
7 7
3.402 x104
We moved the dec. pt. 3 to the right so we
have to make the exponent 3 smaller.
3) R = 91674.3582 What is the digit in the tenths place of R x 10-4 ?
b) 1 Multiplying R x 104 moves the decimal point
4 places to the left = 9.16743582.
The number in the 10th place is 1.
P. 14 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
H) TABLES & GRAPHS
1) Men
Women
A group of faculty members went out for beer. It the group drank a total
of 93 mugs of beer, how many mugs of beer does each picture represent?
c) 6 93 mugs of beer divided by
15.5 pictures = 6 mugs/picture.
2) Based on the survey graphed below, how many people have at least 2 dogs?
# of people
20
15 At least 2 dogs means
10 2 or more dogs.
5 2 dogs: 15 people
0 1 2 3 3 dogs: 15 people
# of dogs Total: 30
d) 30
3) Based on the survey graphed below, how many people have no more than 1 dog?
No more than 1 dog
means 1 dog or less.
# of people
20
15 1 dog: 20 people
10
0 dogs: 5 people
5
Total: 25
0 1 2 3
# of dogs
c) 25
P. 15 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
Distribution of Stamps Owned by Four
Collectors Before Trading
Ace Chris
28% 34%
Bob Greg
24% 14%
4) Chris, Greg, Bob, and Ace are stamp collectors, and together they have a total of
5,000 stamps. They decided to meet and trade stamps. The pie chart above shows
the distribution of the 5,000 stamps before trading. At the end of trading, Chris has
31 percent, Bob has 21 percent, and Ace has 25 percent of the total number of
stamps owned by the four collectors. How many more stamps does Greg have at
the end of trading than he had before the trading began?
b) 450
Before: Greg had 14% of 5000 = .14(5000) = 700
After: 100% – 31% – 21% – 25% = 23% left for Greg
Now Greg has 23% of 5000 = .23(5000) = 1150
Difference: 1150 – 700 = 450 more stamps
OR Greg has 23% - 14% or an extra 9% = .09(5000) = 450
5) Men
Women
The EIP faculty of GMU gave blood on Monday. If each person gave 1 pint of blood
and the total number of pints given was 455, how many pints does each heart
represent?
35
455 divided by 13 hearts = 35
P. 16 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
NUMBER OF CUPCAKES SOLD
Strawberry = 50
Each represents
Vanilla = 75 25 cupcakes.
Chocolate = 125
6) The pictograph above shows the number of cupcakes sold one day at a certain
bakery. Strawberry cupcakes sold for $1.10 each, vanilla cupcakes sold for $1.30
each, and the total sales of all three types of cupcakes was $308.75. What was
the cost of each chocolate cupcake?
d) $1.25
strawberry: 50 cupcakes @ 1.10 = $55
vanilla: 75 cupcakes @ 1.30 = $97.50
$308.75 - $55 - $97.50 = $156.25 left for the chocolate cupcakes.
$156.25 divided by 125 cupcakes = $1.25
NUMBER OF CARS SOLD IN ONE MONTH
Car A
Car B
7) According to the pictograph above, if the car dealership sold 600 more of car B
than car A, how many cars does each represent?
b) 200 Three pictures of cars or 3C represents the
additional number sold of car B. 3C = 600
C = 200
P. 17 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
I) KNOWING YOUR UNITS
Length
12 inches (in.) = 1 foot (ft.)
3 feet = 1 yard (yd.)
5280 feet = 1 mile (mi.)
144 square inches = 1 square foot
Weight
16 ounces (oz.) = 1 pound (lb.)
2000 pounds = 1 ton (T)
Volume
2 cups (cps.) = 1 pint (pt.)
2 pints = 1 quart (qt.)
4 quarts = 1 gallon (gal.)
P. 18 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
Metric prefixes:
KILO 1000 deci .1
HECTO 100 centi .01
DEKA 10 milli .001
Ex. One kilogram = 1000 grams.
Two dekaliters = 20 liters.
1 meter = 100 centimeters.
100 centimeters = 1 meter.
10 millimeters = 1 centimeter.
This is a ruler that is actual size.
1 inch = about 25 mm = about 2.5 cm.
1) Bobby is 6 years old. His mother says he is 36 units tall. Which of the following could be
the units?
36 inches = 36/12 = 3 feet tall
d) inches
2) Meryl is measuring the length of her cell phone. She says that it is 180 units
long. Which of the following would be the correct unit of measurement?
See ruler above! e) millimeters
P. 19 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
3) Of the following, which is most likely to be the height of a high school athlete?
c) 72 inches
72 inches = 72/12 = 6 feet tall
3
4) A container has 187 gallons of apple juice inside. How many 1 quart
4
containers will this fill?
4 quarts
187.75 gallons x 751 quarts 751
gallon
5) A student sets up a conversion as follows:
5,280 feet 12 inches
80 miles x x
1 mile 1 foot
Which of the following conversions is she performing?
b) Miles to inches
She started with miles and if you cancel the
units you will end up with inches. Therefore,
she was changing miles to inches.
P. 20 - Key
LESSON 1 KEY – NUMBER & QUANTITY PROBLEMS
J) LOGIC
1) John paid $127 for books, pencils, and paper. Which one of the following will tell
you enough to find out the cost of the pencils?
d) He paid 3/4 of his money on books and paper.
If we know he paid ¾ of his money on
books and paper, then we know he spent
¼ of his money on pencils. So, we could
take ¼ of $127 to find the cost of the
pencils.
2) Patricia says it takes 25 gallons of water to fill up her bathtub. Which of the
following would you need to know in order to find out how long it takes to fill the
tub?
c) The tub fills at a rate of ½ gallon/minute.
The only one that will tell us how long it
takes is the one that tells us how fast
(or the rate) it will fill.
3) If the total cost of cookies is represented by 7c + 8s + 6p and c = # of boxes of chocolate
chip cookies, s = # of boxes of sugar cookies and p = # of boxes of peanut butter cookies,
what does the 8 represent?
Since the 8 is next to the s
b) cost of a box of sugar cookies and s stands for the number
of boxes of sugar cookies,
the 8 must represent the
cost of a box of sugar
cookies.
P. 21 - Key
