Getting Real

Solving Equations to Solve

4
Problems

WARM UP LEARNING GOALS

Determine each quotient • Use variables to represent quantities in expressions
using long division. describing real-world values.
• Solve problems by writing and solving equations.
1. 435 4 25 • Interpret remainders in division problems.

2. 511 4 30 KEY TERM

• literal equation
3. 860 4 23

You know about expressions and equations and how they often represent the structure
of real-world situations. How can you apply your knowledge to write equations and solve
real-world and mathematical problems?

LESSON 4: Getting Real • M3-135

 Getting Started

Equations, Literally
You have already learned a lot of important equations in mathematics.
Some of these equations are literal equations. Literal equations are
equations in which the variables represent specific measures. You
most often see literal equations when you study formulas.

1
For example, the formula for the area of a triangle, A 5 __
2
bh, is a
literal equation. The variables in this equation represent the measures
of the area, base, and height of the triangle.

1. Consider the formula for area of a parallelogram.

a. Write the formula for area, A, use b to represent the base

and h to represent the height.

b. Solve the equation for b.

c. Solve the equation for h.

2. The total cost, t, of an online order is the cost of the items, c,

plus the cost of shipping, s.

a. Write an equation to represent the total cost.

b. Solve the equation for the cost of the items.

c. Solve the equation for the cost of shipping.

3. You can calculate the distance, d, of an object traveling at a

constant rate by multiplying the rate, r, by the time, t. Write an
equation in terms of each quantity.

a. distance b. rate c. time

M3-136 • TOPIC 2: Equations

 AC T I V I T Y
Using Equations to Solve
4.1 Problems

Write and solve an equation for each problem. Show your work and
label your answers. Describe the strategy you used to determine
each solution.

1. Raul’s sister is 6 years older than he is. What is Raul’s age if

Raul’s sister is 19 years old?

1
2. Approximately ___
10
of the mass of a medium-sized apple is
sugar. What is the approximate mass of a medium-sized
apple that contains 19 grams of sugar?

3. Oscar made brownies for his class. He tripled the recipe he

normally uses. If he made 36 brownies for his class, how many
brownies does his original recipe make?

LESSON 4: Getting Real • M3-137

 4. In June of 2016, for every 20 total emails a person received,
they could expect to get 11 spam emails. If a person received
300 spam emails in one month, how many total emails did
they receive?

5. In Jaden’s town, the middle school has 443 more students than
the high school. If the middle school has 817 students, how
many students are at the high school?

6. The average height of an ostrich, the tallest bird, is 121 inches.

The average height of a bee hummingbird, the smallest bird,
is 2.75 inches. How many times taller is the ostrich than the
bee hummingbird?

M3-138 • TOPIC 2: Equations

 AC T I V I T Y

4.2 Problems and Puzzles

For each question, write an equation to represent the situation and

then solve it to answer the equation. A situation may require more
than one equation.

1. Kendra bought some back-to-school supplies for $1.70. She

showed them to her friend Naya: 2 erasers for 2 cents each,
5 markers for 4 cents each. She also bought 8 notepads, but she
forgot how much she paid for them. She did not pay sales tax.

Naya said that she was not charged the right amount. How
did she know?

2. The Bermuda Triangle is an imaginary triangle

connecting Miami, Florida, to San Juan, Puerto Bermuda
Rico, to Bermuda. The Bermuda Triangle covers
an area of 454,000 square miles. The dashed line
Florida
on the map shows a distance of about 926 miles.
Bermuda
0 Triangle
What is the approximate distance from Bermuda
to Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico

3. Amit’s school is an unusual school. It has 1677 students in

grades 3–6. There are twice as many fifth graders as sixth
graders and three times as many fourth graders as fifth
graders. Finally, there are five times as many third graders as
fourth graders. How many fifth graders are in Amit’s school?

LESSON 4: Getting Real • M3-139

 4. There are two routes Jasmine can take when she bikes home
from school—the long way and the short way. The long way is
1
1__
2
times as far as the short way. During one week, she biked a
total of 30 miles from school to home. She took the short way
three times.

a. What is the distance of the short way?

b. What is the distance of the long way?

AC T I V I T Y
Interpreting Remainders
4.3 in Solutions

1. The Red Cross disaster relief fund collected 3551 winter coats
to distribute to flood victims. If there are 23 distribution
centers, how many coats can be sent to each center? Marla’s
calculations are shown.

154__9 9
Marla said, “The Red Cross can send 154 ___ coats to each
23
23 center.” Madison replied, “You cannot have a fraction of a coat.
23)3551 So, each center will receive 154 coats and there will be 9 coats
223 left over.”
125
2115 Who’s correct and why?
101
292
9

M3-140 • TOPIC 2: Equations

In division problems, the remainder can mean different things in
different situations. Sometimes the remainder can be ignored, and
sometimes the remainder is the answer to the problem. Sometimes the In other words,
answer is the number without the remainder, and sometimes you need you can round
to use the next whole number up from the correct answer. down if you
don't need
2. The Carnegie Middle School is hosting a picnic for any fifth to use the
grader who will be attending school next year as a sixth remainder, and
grader. The hospitality committee is planning the picnic for you can round
125 students. Each fifth grader will get a sandwich, a drink, up if you need
and a dessert. the next whole
number larger
a. The hospitality committee is ordering large sandwiches that than your
each serve 8 people. If 125 fifth graders are coming to the answer.
picnic, how many sandwiches should the committee buy?

b. The committee is planning to have frozen fruit bars for

dessert. If frozen fruit bars come in boxes of 12, how many
boxes of frozen fruit bars should they order?

c. They will be serving bottles of water. Bottled water comes

in cases of 24. How many cases of water will they need? Will
there be any extra bottles of water? If so, how many?

d. The fifth graders will take a bus from the elementary school
to the middle school on the afternoon of the picnic. If each
bus seats 32 passengers, how many buses will be needed to
transport the students? How many seats will be empty?

LESSON 4: Getting Real • M3-141

 3. Throughout the year, local businesses collected 28,654 pairs of
NOTES eyeglasses for disaster victims. If they have requests from 236
relief organizations, how many pairs of eyeglasses can each
organization receive? How many pairs, if any, will be left over?

TALK the TALK

Write Your Own

1. Write your own word problem that can be solved by writing

and solving the equation 2.4 1 x 5 5.

2. Write your own word problem that can be solved by writing

and solving the equation 4x 5 8.

M3-142 • TOPIC 2: Equations

 Assignment

Write
Write a definition of literal
equation in your own words.
Remember
In division problems, the remainder can mean different things in
different situations. Sometimes the remainder can be ignored,
and sometimes the remainder is the answer to the problem.
Sometimes the answer is the quotient without the remainder, and
sometimes you need to use the next whole number up from the
quotient.

Practice
1. Solve each equation. Show your work.
a. 3y 5 18
b. m 1 12 5 29
c. 3g 5 6.3
d. 5x 5 12 1 18
e. 2(a 1 2a) 5 90

For each problem, write an equation to represent the situation and then solve it to answer the question.
2. A rectangular pool has a width of 24 feet. A second rectangular pool has a perimeter of 48 feet, which
1
is __ the perimeter of the first pool.
3
3. The local firefighters collect toys to distribute at various give-away events. They have 4569 toys and will
sponsor 129 give-away events. How many toys can they give away at each event? How many toys, if any,
will be left over?

Stretch
7
You read a report that says that only ____
100
of all people who own car dealerships in the country are women.

1. There are about 20,000 people who own car dealerships in the country. How many of them are female?
2. In a group of 2000 people who own car dealerships attending a conference, about how many would you
expect to be female?
3. How did you determine the number of women car dealers, given the total number of car dealers? Use
complete sentences to explain your answer.
4. Write an expression to represent the number of women car dealers, given the total number of car dealers.
5. Write an equation that you can use to determine the total number of car dealers in a certain city, given
that the number of women car dealers in the city is 14.
6. Use the equation to determine the total number of car dealers in the city.

LESSON 4: Getting Real • M3-143

 Review
1. Rewrite each algebraic expression by applying the Distributive Property.
a. 3.5(2x 1 1)
1
b. __
2
(3 2 4a)

2. Create a bar model to solve each equation.

a. 4x 5 30
3
b. __
5
x 5 21

3. Write a different division problem that has the same quotient as the one given. Explain your answer.
a. 36.5 4 0.005 b. 63.196 4 14.8

M3-144 • TOPIC 2: Equations