Math Word Problems with Answers -

Grade 8
Grade 8 math word problems with answers are presented. Also solutions and
explanations are included.

1. A car traveled 281 miles in 4 hours 41 minutes. What was the average
speed of the car in miles per hour?

2. In a group of 120 people, 90 have an age of more 30 years, and the others
have an age of less than 20 years. If a person is selected at random from
this group, what is the probability the person's age is less than 20?

3. The length of a rectangle is four times its width. If the area is 100 m2 what
is the length of the rectangle?

4. A six-sided die is rolled once. What is the probability that the number rolled
is an even number greater than 2?

5. Point A has the coordinates (2,2). What are the coordinates of its image
point if it is translated 2 units up and 5 units to the left, and reflected in the x
axis?

6. The length of a rectangle is increased to 2 times its original size and its
width is increased to 3 times its original size. If the area of the new
rectangle is equal to 1800 square meters, what is the area of the original
rectangle?

7. Each dimension of a cube has been increased to twice its original size. If
the new cube has a volume of 64,000 cubic centimeters, what is the area of
 one face of the original cube?

8. Pump A can fill a tank of water in 5 hours. Pump B can fill the same tank in
8 hours. How long does it take the two pumps working together to fill the
tank?(round your answer to the nearest minute).

9. A water tank, having the shape of a rectangular prism of base 100 square
centimeters, is being filled at the rate of 1 liter per minute. Find the rate at
which the height of the water in the water tank increases. Express your
answer in centimeters per minute.

10. Dany bought a total of 20 game cards some of which cost $0.25 each and
some of which cost $0.15 each. If Dany spent $4.2 to buy these cards, how
many cards of each type did he buy?

11. The size of the perimeter of the square ABCD is equal to 100 cm. The
length of the segment MN is equal to 5 cm and the triangle MNC is
isosceles. Find the area of the pentagon ABNMD.

12. Water is being pumped, at a constant rate, into an underground storage

 tank that has the shape of a rectangular prism. Which of the graphs below
best represent the changes in the height of water in the tank as a function
of the time?

13. Initially the rectangular prism on the left was full of water. Then water was
poured in the right cylindrical container so that the heights of water in both
containers are equal. Find the height h of water in both containers.(round
your answer to the nearest tenth of a cm).

14. Peter drove at a constant speed for 2 hours. He then stopped for an hour to
do some shopping and have a rest and then drove back home driving at a
constant speed. Which graph best represents the changes in the distance
 from home as Peter was driving?

15. Two balls A and B rotate along a circular track. Ball A makes 2 full rotations
in 26 minutes. Ball B makes 5 full rotation in 35 minutes. If they start
rotating now from the same point, when will they be at the same starting
point again?

16. In a certain college, 40% of the senior class students is taking Physics,
30% is taking calculus and 10% is taking both. If 40 students are enrolled in
the senior class, how many students are taking neither Physics nor
calculus?

17. Joe drove at the speed of 45 miles per hour for a certain distance. He then
drove at the speed of 55 miles per hour for the same distance. What is the
average speed for the whole trip?

18. If the radius of a cylindrical container is doubled, how do you change the
 height of the container so that the volume will stay the same?

19. One leg of a right triangle is 18 cm and its area is 108 square cm. Find its
primeter.

20. What is the sum of the sizes of the interior angles of a polygon with 53
sides?

21. Jack is taller than Sarah but shorter than both Malika and Tania. Malika is
shorter than tania. Natasha is shorter than Sarah. Who is the shortest?

22. What is the height (one of the legs) and the hypotenuse of an isosceles
right triangle that has an area of 800 square feet?

23. Find the circumference of a circle inscribed inside a square with a side of
20 meters.

24. Two different schools (A and B) have the same number of pupils. The ratio
of the boys in school A and the boys in school B is 2:1 and the ratio of the
girls in school A and the girls in school B is 4:5. Find the ratio of the boys in
school A to the girls in school A.

25. A water tank has the shape of a rectangular prism of base 50 cm 2. This
tank is being filled at the rate of 12 liters per minutes. Find the rate at which
the height of the water in the water tank increases; express your answer in
millimeters per second.

26. One pump fills a tank two times as fast as another pump. If the pumps work
together they fill the tank in 18 minutes. How long does it take each pump
 working alone to fill the tank?

Answers to the Above Questions

1. 60 miles per hour

2. 0.25
3. 20 meters
4. 1/3
5. (-3,-4)
6. 300 square meters
7. 400 square cm
8. 3 hours and 5 minutes
9. 10 cm per minute
10. 12 cards at $0.25 and 8 cards at $0.15
11. 618.75 square cm
12. graph at the bottom left
13. 7.2 cm
14. graph at the bottom left
15. After 1 hour and 31 minutes
16. 16 students
17. 49.5 miles per hour
18. 1/4 of the original height
19. 51.6 cm
20. 9180 degrees
21. Natasha
22. height (leg) = 40 feet , hypotenuse = 40 sqrt(2) feet
23. 20pi meters
24. ratio of the boys in school A to the girls in school A is 1:2
25. 40 mm/second
26. faster pump: 27 minutes, slower pump: 54 minutes

Math Word Problems

with Solutions and Explanations -
Grade 8
Detailed solutions and full explanations to grade 8 math word problems
are presented.

1. A car traveled 281 miles in 4 hours 41 minutes. What was the

 average speed of the car in miles per hour?

Solution

We first convert the time of 4 hours 41 minutes in minutes

4 hours 41 minutes = 4 × 60 + 41 = 281 minutes

Average speed S is given by distance / time. Hence

S = 281 miles / 281 minutes = 1 mile / minute

= 60 miles / hour

2. In a group of 120 people, 90 have an age of more 30 years,

and the others have an age of less than 20 years. If a person
is selected at random from this group, what is the probability
the person's age is less than 20?

Solution

Number of people whose age is less than 20 is given by

120 - 90 = 30

Probability P that a person selected at random from the group

is less than 20 is gieven by

30 / 120 = 0.25

3. The length of a rectangle is four times its width. If the area is

 100 m2 what is the length of the rectangle?

Solution

Let L be the length and W be the width of the rectangle.

Hence

L=4W

We now use the area to write

100 = L × W

Substitute L by 4 W in the equation above

100 = 4 W × W = 4 W2

Solve for W and find L

4 W2 = 100

W2 = 25 , W = 5 and L = 4 W = 20 m

4. A six-sided die is rolled once. What is the probability that the

number rolled is an even number greater than 2?

Solution

Out of the 6 possible numbers that may rolled, 3 are even: 2,

4 and 6 BUT only 4 and 6 are greater than 2. Hence the
probability that the number rolled is an even number greater
than 2 is given by

(number of even numbers greater than 2) / 6 = 2 / 6 = 1 / 3

5. Point A has the coordinates (2,2). What are the coordinates of
its image point if it is translated 2 units up and 5 units to the
left, and reflected in the x axis?

Solution

A translation of 2 units up will increase the y coordinate by 2

units and a translation by 5 units to the left will decrease the x
coordinate by 5. Hence after these translations point (2,2)
becomes

(2 - 5 , 2 + 2) = (-3 , 4)

When point (-3 , 4) is reflected in the x axis, its y coordinate

changes sign and point (-3 , 4) becomes

(-3 , -4)

6. The length of a rectangle is increased to 2 times its original

size and its width is increased to 3 times its original size. If the
area of the new rectangle is equal to 1800 square meters,
what is the area of the original rectangle?

Solution

If L and W be the original length and width of the rectangle

and its area is given by

L×W

After increase the length becomes 2 L and the width becomes

 3 W. The area is then given by (2 L) × (3 W) and is known.
Hence

(2 L) × (3 W) = 1800

Solve the above equation to find L × W

6 L × W = 1800

L × W = 1800 / 6 = 300 square meters , area of original

rectangle

7. Each dimension of a cube has been increased to twice its

original size. If the new cube has a volume of 64,000 cubic
centimeters, what is the area of one face of the original cube?

Solution

Let x be the length of the edge of the original cube. When

increased to twice its original size it becomes 2 x which gives
a volume of

2x × 2x × 2x = 8x3

The volume is known. Hence

8x3 = 64,000

x3 = 8,000 which gives x = 20

The area of one face of the original (before the increase) is

given by x2

x2 = 202 = 400 square centimeters

8. Pump A can fill a tank of water in 5 hours. Pump B can fill the
same tank in 8 hours. How long does it take the two pumps
working together to fill the tank?(round your answer to the
nearest minute).

Solution

In 1 hour pump A can fill 1/5 of a tank and pump B can fill 1/8
of the same tank. So in 1 hour the two pumps working
together can fill

1/5 + 1/8 = 13 / 40 of a tank

Since the rate of the two pumps working together is 13/40, the
time t needed to fill the tank by the two pumps is found by
solving

(13/40) t = 1

t = 40 / 13 = 39/13 + 1/13 hours

= 3 hours and (1/13)*60 minutes

= 3 hours 5 minutes (rounded to the nearest minute)

9. A water tank, having the shape of a rectangular prism of base

100 square centimeters, is being filled at the rate of 1 liter per
minute. Find the rate at which the height of the water in the
water tank increases. Express your answer in centimeters per
minute.
 Solution

The volume of a rectangular prism is given by

area of base × height

The rate at which the tank is being filled is 1 liter per minute
which we need to convert

1 liter = 1 dm3

But 1 dm = 10 cm. Hence

1 liter = (10 cm)3 = 1000 cm3

The height h of the water is related to the volume by

volume = area of base × h

In one minute the volume increases by 1 liter or 1000 cm3 and

the height increases by

h = volume / area of base = 1000 cm3 / 100 cm2 = 10 cm

10. Dany bought a total of 20 game cards some of which

cost $0.25 each and some of which cost $0.15 each. If Dany
spent $4.2 to buy these cards, how many cards of each type
did he buy?

Solution

Let X be the number of cards that cost $0.25 each and Y the
number of cards that cost $0.15 each. The total number of
cards is 20. Hence
 X + Y = 20

If X is the number of cards at $0.25, then the X cards cost

0.25 X

If Y is the number of cards at $0.15, then the Y cards cost

0.15 Y

The total cost of the X cards and the the Y cards is known to
be $4.2 and also given by

0.25 X + 0.15 Y = 4.2

We now need to solve the system of equations

X + Y = 20
0.25 X + 0.15 Y = 4.2

The first equation gives Y = 20 - X. Substitute y by 20 - x in

the second equation and solve

0.25 X + 0.15 (20 - X) = 4.2

X(0.25 - 0.15) + 3 = 4.2

0.1 X = 1.2

X = 12 and Y = 20 - 12 = 8

11. The size of the perimeter of the square ABCD is equal

to 100 cm. The length of the segment MN is equal to 5 cm
and the triangle MNC is isosceles. Find the area of the
pentagon ABNMD.

Solution

The area A of the pentagon ABNMD may found by subtracting the area
of traingle MNC from the total area of the square.

A = 252 - (1/2) × MC × NC

Since triangle MNC is isosceles, the length of NC and MC are equal

(MC = NC) and the above area may be written as.

A = 252 - (1/2) × MC2

Also triangle MNC is a right triangle. Let us use Pythagora's to find MC2.

MC2 + NC2 = 52

Since MC = NC, the above equation may be written as.

2 MC2 25

MC2 = 25 / 2

We now substitute MC2 by 25 / 2 in the area A found above

A = 252 - 25 / 4 = 625 - 6.25 = 618.75 square centimeters

12. Water is being pumped, at a constant rate, into an
underground storage tank that has the shape of a rectangular
prism. Which of the graphs below best represent the changes
in the height of water in the tank as a function of the time?

Solution

When water is pumped into a tank, the height of the water will increase.
The graph in the top right side shows a decreasing height and the graph
at the bottom right shows a constant height and cannot therefore
represent the height as a function of time. The graph at the top left is not
the graph of a function. The only graph that may represent the height of
the water in the tank being filled is the graph in the bottom left which
shows an increasing height.

13. Initially the rectangular prism on the left was full of

water. Then water was poured in the right cylindrical container
so that the heights of water in both containers are equal. Find
the height h of water in both containers.(round your answer to
the nearest tenth of a cm).

Solution

The volume of water in the rectangular prism in the left is given by

2 × 4 × 10 = 80 cm3

The volume of water in the middle rectangular prism in given by

2×4×h=8h

The volume of water in cylinder on the right is given by

Pi × (1)2 × h = Pi × h , Pi = 3.14

Since all water in the container on the left is poured in both containers
on the right, then

80 cm3 = 8 h + Pi × h

Solve to find h

h = 80 / (8 + Pi)

h = 7.2 cm (rounded to the nearest tenth of a cm)

14. Peter drove at a constant speed for 2 hours. He then
stopped for an hour to do some shopping and have a rest and
then drove back home driving at a constant speed. Which
graph best represents the changes in the distance from home
as Peter was driving?

Solution

As peter drives away from home, the distance from home should
increase. Only the graphs bottom-left and top-right shows an increase at
the start (t=0). While shopping the distance stays constant but as he
starts driving back the distance must decrease as he approaches home.
Therefore only the graph at the bottem-left shows a decrease of
distance and best represents the changes in the distance.

15. Two balls A and B rotate along a circular track. Ball A

makes 2 full rotations in 26 minutes. Ball B makes 5 full
rotation in 35 minutes. If they start rotating now from the same
point, when will they be at the same starting point again?

Solution

If ball A makes 2 rotations in 26 minutes, it makes 1 rotation

in 13 minutes. If ball B makes 5 rotations in 35 minutes, it
makes 1 rotation in 7 minutes.

The two balls start rotating now and makes several rotations
before they are at the SAME starting points. Ball A would
have done a WHOLE number X of rotations and ball B would
have done a WHOLE number Y of rotations. Also they would
have rotated during the same period of time T. Hence

T = 13 X = 7 Y

Hence 13 X = 7 Y

Solve the above for X

X = 7 Y / 13

We want the time when they are FIRST at the same starting
point. Therefore X and Y are the smallest whole numbers of
the equation X = 7 Y / 13. The smallest value of Y that gives
X as a whole number is 13. Hence

X = 7 (13) / 13 = 7

Time T is given by

T = 13 X = 13 × 7 = 91 minutes = 1 hour and 31 minutes

or T = 7 Y = 7 × 13 = 91 minutes = 1 hour and 31 minutes

16. In a certain college, 40% of the senior class students is
taking Physics, 30% is taking calculus and 10% is taking both.
If 40 students are enrolled in the senior class, how many
students are taking neither Physics nor calculus?

17. Joe drove at the speed of 45 miles per hour for a certain
distance. He then drove at the speed of 55 miles per hour for
the same distance. What is the average speed for the whole
trip?

18. If the radius of a cylindrical container is doubled, how do

you change the height of the container so that the volume will
stay the same?

19. One leg of a right triangle is 18 cm and its area is 108

square cm. Find its primeter.

20. What is the sum of the sizes of the interior angles of a

polygon with 53 sides?

21. Jack is taller than Sarah but shorter than both Malika
and Tania. Malika is shorter than tania. Natasha is shorter
than Sarah. Who is the shortest?

22. What is the height (one of the legs) and the hypotenuse
 of an isosceles right triangle that has an area of 800 square
feet?

23. Find the circumference of a circle inscribed inside a

square with a side of 20 meters.

24. Two different schools (A and B) have the same number

of pupils. The ratio of the boys in school A and the boys in
school B is 2:1 and the ratio of the girls in school A and the
girls in school B is 4:5. Find the ratio of the boys in school A
to the girls in school A.

25. A water tank has the shape of a rectangular prism of

base 50 cm2. This tank is being filled at the rate of 12 liters
per minutes. Find the rate at which the height of the water in
the water tank increases; express your answer in millimeters
per second.

26. One pump fills a tank two times as fast as another

pump. If the pumps work together they fill the tank in 18
minutes. How long does it take each pump working alone to
fill the tank?

Answers to the Above Questions

1. 60 miles per hour

2. 0.25
3. 20 meters
4. 1/3
5. (-3,-4)
6. 300 square meters
7. 400 square cm
8. 3 hours and 5 minutes
9. 10 cm per minute
10. 12 cards at $0.25 and 8 cards at $0.15
11. 618.75 square cm
12. graph at the bottom left
13. 7.2 cm
14. graph at the bottom left
15. After 1 hour and 31 minutes
16. 16 students
17. 49.5 miles per hour
18. 1/4 of the original height
19. 51.6 cm
20. 9180 degrees
21. Natasha
22. height (leg) = 40 feet , hypotenuse = 40 sqrt(2) feet
23. 20pi meters
24. ratio of the boys in school A to the girls in school A is
1:2
25. 40 mm/second
26. faster pump: 27 minutes, slower pump: 54 minutes