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Algebra · Word Problems Involving Algebraic Expressions

SAT Word Problems Involving Algebraic Expressions Practice Questions (Free + Explanations) | Quiz 9

Question 12345 of 5

Question 1 of 5

A school is ordering tickets for a play. Student tickets cost each, and adult tickets cost each. The school buys a total of tickets for . How many adult tickets did the school buy?

Explanation

Let be the number of student tickets and be the number of adult tickets. The total number of tickets gives

The total cost gives

Substitute into the cost equation:

Simplify:

So the school bought adult tickets.

Concept summary

For a system word problem, define variables, write one equation for the total number and another for the total cost, then solve the system.

Question 2 of 5

A rectangular garden has perimeter feet. A walkway of uniform width feet is built entirely inside the garden along all four sides, leaving a rectangular grass area in the center. If the area of the walkway is square feet and the length of the original garden is feet more than its width, what is the value of ?

Explanation

Let the original width be feet, so the original length is . Since the perimeter is ,

So the original dimensions are by .

The original area is

square feet. Since the walkway area is square feet, the remaining grass area is

square feet.

Because the walkway is built inside all four sides, the grass rectangle has dimensions

So,

Expanding gives

Divide by :

Factoring gives

So or . Since would make the inside dimensions negative, it is impossible. Therefore, the value of is .

Concept summary

Model the geometry in stages: use perimeter to find the original dimensions, subtract walkway area from total area to get the inner area, then write and solve an equation using the reduced dimensions and .

Question 3 of 5

A theater sells tickets for an evening show. For each adult ticket sold, the theater collects dollars, and for each student ticket sold, it collects dollars. On one night, the theater sold 20 more student tickets than adult tickets and collected a total of dollars. If represents the number of adult tickets sold, which expression is equivalent to the total amount collected that night, written in terms of , , and ?

Explanation

If is the number of adult tickets, then the number of student tickets is . The total amount collected is

Now simplify:

So the equivalent expression is .

Concept summary

Model a word problem by assigning expressions to each quantity, then rewrite and simplify to find an equivalent form. In revenue problems, each price must be multiplied by the number of tickets of that type.

Question 4 of 5

A school fundraiser sold only -dollar and -dollar raffle tickets. If every ticket sold had been a -dollar ticket, the total revenue would have been dollars less than the actual revenue. If every ticket sold had been an -dollar ticket, the total revenue would have been dollars more than the actual revenue. How many tickets were sold in all?

Explanation

Let be the number of -dollar tickets and be the number of -dollar tickets. The actual revenue is .

If all tickets had been dollars, the revenue would be , which is less than the actual revenue:

This simplifies to

so

If all tickets had been dollars, the revenue would be , which is more than the actual revenue:

This simplifies to

so

Therefore, the total number of tickets sold is

Concept summary

Model each hypothetical revenue with an expression, compare it to the actual revenue, and use the difference in ticket prices to determine how many of each type were sold.

Question 5 of 5

At a school fundraiser, only notebooks and pens were sold. Each notebook sold for \3\. A total of 41 items were sold for \94

Explanation

Let be the number of notebooks and be the number of pens. The total number of items gives . The total amount of money gives . Substitute into the second equation:

So, notebooks were sold.

Concept summary

Set up one equation for the total number of items and another for the total value, then solve the system to find the unknown quantity.

Your results

0of 5 correct

Estimated SAT Math band

500-550

Illustrative range from this short quiz—not an official College Board score.

Adaptive practice, weak-area review, and timed tests live in the MCQsLearn app—pick up where you left off on your phone.

More SAT Math practice

Your results

1of 5 correct

Estimated SAT Math band

500-550

Illustrative range from this short quiz—not an official College Board score.

Adaptive practice, weak-area review, and timed tests live in the MCQsLearn app—pick up where you left off on your phone.

More SAT Math practice

Your results

2of 5 correct

Estimated SAT Math band

600-650

Illustrative range from this short quiz—not an official College Board score.

Adaptive practice, weak-area review, and timed tests live in the MCQsLearn app—pick up where you left off on your phone.

More SAT Math practice

Your results

3of 5 correct

Estimated SAT Math band

600-650

Illustrative range from this short quiz—not an official College Board score.

Adaptive practice, weak-area review, and timed tests live in the MCQsLearn app—pick up where you left off on your phone.

More SAT Math practice

Your results

4of 5 correct

Estimated SAT Math band

700+

Illustrative range from this short quiz—not an official College Board score.

Adaptive practice, weak-area review, and timed tests live in the MCQsLearn app—pick up where you left off on your phone.

More SAT Math practice

Your results

5of 5 correct

Estimated SAT Math band

700+

Illustrative range from this short quiz—not an official College Board score.

Adaptive practice, weak-area review, and timed tests live in the MCQsLearn app—pick up where you left off on your phone.

More SAT Math practice