EQUATIONS

AND
INEQUALITIES
GRADE 10
Equations and Inequalities – Word Problems
Algebra allows us to solve a number of practical problems that we encounter in
everyday life.
The secret is to translate the word problem into an algebraic equation which
can then be solved.
We shall deal here with a distance-speed-time problem and a money-problem,
but the process can be used for many other types of everyday, real-life
problems.

In each case, ask yourself the question: “What do I have to find?” and give that
answer the value of 𝑥𝑥.

Then use the given information to construct an equation where you can then
solve for 𝑥𝑥.

Remember the basic formulae for the above types of problems:

Distance = speed x time and Total Price = Number of items x price per item
Equations and Inequalities – Word Problems

Distance = speed x time and Total Price = Number of items x price per item

This can be represented in the following triangles

Total
Distance Price

Speed Time Price/item Number

𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷
∴ 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 = 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 =
𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 =
𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
Equations and Inequalities – Word Problems
EXAMPLE 1
A 4 x 4 vehicle covers a distance of 150 km in 2 hours. It travels at 40 km/h in
a rocky area and on a more smooth tarred road, it travels at 80 km/h
How long does it travel through the rocky area?

What is the question?

Let time travelled through rocky area = 𝑥𝑥
∴ time travelled through smooth area = ?
2 − 𝑥𝑥

TIME SPEED DISTANCE

Rocky
Smooth

Total Distance = 150km

∴ 40𝑥𝑥 + 80 2 − 𝑥𝑥 = 150
40𝑥𝑥 + 160 − 80𝑥𝑥 = 150
−40𝑥𝑥 = −10
1
𝑥𝑥 =
4
Equations and Inequalities – Word Problems
EXAMPLE 1
A 4 x 4 vehicle covers a distance of 150 km in 2 hours. It travels at 40 km/h in
a rocky area and on a more smooth tarred road, it travels at 80 km/h
How long does it travel through the rocky area?

What is the question?

Let time travelled through rocky area = 𝑥𝑥
∴ time travelled through smooth area = ?
2 − 𝑥𝑥

TIME SPEED DISTANCE

Rocky 𝑥𝑥 40 40𝑥𝑥
Smooth 2 − 𝑥𝑥 80 80(2 − 𝑥𝑥)

Total Distance = 150km

∴ 40𝑥𝑥 + 80 2 − 𝑥𝑥 = 150
40𝑥𝑥 + 160 − 80𝑥𝑥 = 150
−40𝑥𝑥 = −10
1
𝑥𝑥 =
4
Equations and Inequalities – Word Problems
EXAMPLE 2
A hawker bought boxes of tomatoes at R18 per box at the market. He sold all
but 5 boxes which went bad, at R25 per box. If he made a profit of R155, how
many boxes of tomatoes did he buy?

What is the question?

Let no. boxes bought = 𝑥𝑥
∴ No. boxes sold = ?
𝑥𝑥 − 5
NUMBER PRICE PER BOX TOTAL PRICE
Buy
Sell

Total Selling Price – Total Buying Price = Profit

∴ 25 𝑥𝑥 − 5 − 18𝑥𝑥 = 155
25𝑥𝑥 − 125 − 18𝑥𝑥 = 155
7𝑥𝑥 = 280
𝑥𝑥 = 40
He bought 40 boxes of tomatoes
Equations and Inequalities – Word Problems
EXAMPLE 2
A hawker bought boxes of tomatoes at R18 per box at the market. He sold all
but 5 boxes which went bad, at R25 per box. If he made a profit of R155, how
many boxes of tomatoes did he buy?

What is the question?

Let no. boxes bought = 𝑥𝑥
∴ No. boxes sold = ?
𝑥𝑥 − 5
NUMBER PRICE PER BOX TOTAL PRICE
Buy 𝑥𝑥 18 18𝑥𝑥
Sell 25 − 𝑥𝑥 25 25(𝑥𝑥 − 5)

Total Selling Price – Total Buying Price = Profit

∴ 25 𝑥𝑥 − 5 − 18𝑥𝑥 = 155
25𝑥𝑥 − 125 − 18𝑥𝑥 = 155
7𝑥𝑥 = 280
𝑥𝑥 = 40
He bought 40 boxes of tomatoes
Equations and Inequalities – Word Problems

EXAMPLE 3
The sum of three consecutive digits is 99. What is the
smallest of the three numbers?

Let the smallest number be 𝑥𝑥

∴ The other two numbers are 𝑥𝑥 + 1 and 𝑥𝑥 + 2

∴ 𝑥𝑥 + 𝑥𝑥 + 1 + 𝑥𝑥 + 2 = 99

3𝑥𝑥 = 96

𝑥𝑥 = 32

The smallest number is 32

Equations and Inequalities – Word Problems

Independent Study
Please refer to the pdf document in your Independent Study
a, d, f, h, i