 A picture has a height that is 4/3 its width.

It is to be enlarged to have an area

of 192square inches. What will be the dimensions of the enlargement?

The height is defined in terms of the width, so I'll pick a variable for "width", and then create an
expression for the height.

Let "w" stand for the width of the picture. The height h is 4/3 the width, so h = (4/3)w. Then the
area is A = hw = [(4/3)w][w] = (4/3)w2 = 192. I need to solve this "area" equation for the value
of the width, and then back-solve to find the value of the height.

(4/3)w2 = 192
w2 = 144
w = ± 12

Since I can't have a negative width, I can ignore the "w = –12" solution. Then the width must
be12 and the height is h = (4/3)(12) = 16.

The enlargement will be 12 inches by 16 inches.

 A garden measuring 12 meters by 16 meters is to have a pedestrian pathway installed all

around it, increasing the total area to 285 square meters. What will be the width of the
pathway?

The first thing I need to do is draw a picture. Since I don't

know how wide the path will be, I'll label the width as "x".

Looking at my picture, I see that the total width will be

x + 12 + x = 12 + 2x, and the total length will be
x + 16 + x = 16 + 2x.

Then the new area is given by:

(12 + 2x)(16 + 2x) = 285

192 + 56x + 4x2 = 285
4x2 + 56x – 93 = 0

This quadratic is messy enough that I won't bother with trying to use factoring to solve; I'll just go
straight to the Quadratic Formula:
 Obviously the negative value won't work in this context, so I'll ignore it. Checking the original
exercise to verify what I'm being asked to find, I notice that I need to have units on my answer:

The width of the pathway will be 1.5 meters.

 You have to make a square-bottomed, unlidded box with a height of three inches and a
volume of approximately 42 cubic inches. You will be taking a piece of cardboard, cutting
three-inch squares from each corner, scoring between the corners, and folding up the
edges. What should be the dimensions of the cardboard, to the nearest quarter inch?

When dealing with geometric sorts of word problems, it is

usually helpful to draw a picture. Since I'll be cutting
equal-sized squares out of all of the corners, and since
the box will have a square bottom, I know I'll be starting
with a square piece of cardboard.

I don't know how big the cardboard will be yet, so I'll label
the sides as having length "w".

Since I know I'll be cutting out three-by-three squares to

get sides that are three inches high, I can mark that on
my drawing.

The dashed lines show where I'll be scoring the

cardboard and folding up the sides.
Since I'll be losing three inches on either end of the
cardboard when I fold up the sides, the final width of the
bottom will be the original "w" inches, less three on the
one side and another three on the other side. That is, the
width of the bottom will be w – 3 – 3 = w – 6.

Then the volume of the box, from the drawing, is:

(w – 6)(w – 6)(3) = 42
(w – 6)(w – 6) = 14
(w – 6)2 = 14

This is the quadratic I need to solve. I can take the square root of either side, and then add the to
the right-hand side:

...or I can multiply out the square and apply the Quadratic Formula:

Either way, I get two solutions which, when expressed in practical decimal terms, tell me that the
width of the original cardboard is either about 2.26 inches or else about 9.74 inches.

How do I know which solution value for the width is right? By checking each value in the original
word problem. If the cardboard is only 2.26 inches wide, then how on earth would I be able to fold
up three-inch-deep sides? But if the cardboard is 9.74 inches, then I can fold up three inches of
cardboard on either side, and still be left with 3.74 inches in the middle. Checking:

(3.74)(3.74)(3) = 41.9628

This isn't exactly 42, but, taking round-off error into account, it's close enough that I can trust that
I have the correct value:

The cardboard should measure 9.75 inches on a side.

A 3 hour river cruise goes 15 km upstream and then back again.
The river has a current of 2 km an hour. What is the boat's speed
and how long was the upstream journey?

There are two speeds to think about: the speed the boat
makes in the water, and the speed relative to the land:

 Let x = the boat's speed in the water (km/h)

 Let v = the speed relative to the land (km/h)

Because the river flows downstream at 2 km/h:

 when going upstream, v = x-2 (its speed is

reduced by 2 km/h)
 when going downstream, v = x+2 (its speed is
increased by 2 km/h)

We can turn those speeds into times using:

time = distance / speed

(if you travel 8 km at 4 km/h it would take 8/4 = 2 hours,

right?)

And we know the total time is 3 hours:

total time = time upstream + time downstream = 3 hours

Put all that together:

total time = 15/(x-2) + 15/(x+2) = 3 hours

Now we use our algebra skills to solve for "x".

First, get rid of the fractions by multiplying through by (x-2)(x+2):

 3(x-2)(x+2) = 15(x+2) + 15(x-2)

Expand everything:

3(x2-4) = 15x+30 + 15x-30

Bring everything to the left and simplify:

3x2 - 30x - 12 = 0

It is a Quadratic Equation! Let us solve it using the Quadratic Formula:

Where a, b and c are from the

Quadratic Equation in "Standard Form": ax2 + bx + c = 0

Solve 3x2 - 30x - 12 = 0

Coefficients are: a = 3, b = -30 and c = -12

Quadratic Formula: x = [ -b ± √(b2-4ac) ] / 2a

Put in a, b and c: x = [ -(-30) ± √((-30)2-4×3×(-12)) ] / (2×3)

Solve: x = [ 30 ± √(900+144) ] / 6
x = [ 30 ± √(1044) ] / 6
x = ( 30 ± 32.31 ) / 6
x = -0.39 or 10.39

Answer: x = -0.39 or 10.39 (to 2 decimal places)

x =-0.39 makes no sense for this real world problem, but x = 10.39 is just
perfect!

Answer: Boat's Speed = 10.39 km/h (to 2 decimal places)

And hence the upstream journey = 15 / (10.39-2) = 1.79 hours = 1 hour

47min

And the downstream journey = 15 / (10.39+2) = 1.21 hours = 1 hour

13min

Example: Resistors in Parallel

Two resistors are in parallel, like in this diagram:

The total resistance has been measured at 2 Ohms, and one of the resistors is
known to be 3 ohms more than the other.

What are the values of the two resistors?

The formula to work out total resistance "RT" is:

1 1 1
= +
RT R1 R2

In this case, we have RT = 2 and R2 = R1 + 3

 1 1 1
= +
2 R1 R1+3

Now, let us set about solving this:

Get rid of the fractions by multiplying 2R1(R1 + 3) 2R1(R1 + 3) 2R1(R1 + 3)

= +
all terms by 2R1(R1 + 3): 2 R1 R1+3

Simplify: R1(R1 + 3) = 2(R1 + 3) + 2R1

Expand to: R12 + 3R1 = 2R1 + 6 + 2R1

Bring all terms to the left: R12 + 3R1 - 2R1 - 6 - 2R1 = 0

Simplify: R12 - R1 - 6 = 0

 The answers -2 and 3

R1 cannot be negative, so R1 = 3 Ohms is the answer.

The two resistors are 3 ohms and 6 ohms.