Department of Education Region 4

Grade 7 Worksheet (Week Two)

This worksheet contains work from the second term (Easter Term) scheme of work. Students from Grade 7
are expected to complete the worksheet at home during the closure of school due to the COVID – 19.
Solutions for the worksheet will be given the following week.

Algebraic Equations

An equation says that two things are equal. It will have an equal sign "=" like this:
𝑥−2 =4
Solving Equations

When we are asked to solve an equation, we are finding a value of the variable (unknown value). This
solution is a value we can put in place of the variable (such as 𝑥) that makes the equation true.
Example:
𝑥−2=4
By method of inspection, we know for the equation above to be true, 𝒙 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝟔. Replacing 𝑥
with 6 the statement proves to be true.
6−2 =4
𝑥=6
However, not all equations can be solved by the method of inspection. Sometimes we must use the
balancing method.
The balancing method means as we work to solve for our unknown variable (NB: The unknown variable,

though often represented by 𝑥, can be any letter of the alphabet), we always keep both the left-hand side and

the right-hand side equal. For example, when 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝒙, we want 𝒙 to be equal to a value, therefore we

need 𝒙 by itself on one side of the equation. To do this we need to get rid of everything except 𝒙 on one side

of the equation.

Examples: Solve the following equations: On the left hand, side, we have 2𝑥
1. 2𝑥 = 12 and we need 𝑥. For 2𝑥 to become 𝑥,

2𝑥 12 we need to divide 2𝑥 by 2. That is

=
2 2 2𝑥
.
Dividing by 2, the equation becomes: 2

𝑥=6 However, as the balancing method

We can substitute 𝑥 = 6 into the original equation to ensure states, whatever is done on one side
our answer is correct. is also done on the other side.
2𝑥 = 12
2 × 6 = 12
If the statement is true, then your answer is correct.
 2. 7𝑥 + 4 = 81
First, we get rid of the +4 on the left-hand side of the equation and balancing it on the right-hand side of the
equation. To get rid of +4 we must -4.
7𝑥 + 4 − 4 = 81 − 4
Substituting
7𝑥 = 77
𝑥 = 11 into the original equation we
Now we get rid of 7 by dividing both sides by 7. have
7𝑥 77 (7 × 11) + 4 = 81
=
7 7
The statement is true; therefore, the
𝑥 = 11 answer is correct.

3. 3𝑡 − 9 = 6
First, we get rid of the -9. To get rid of -9 we must +9. (-9+9=0)
3𝑡 − 9 + 9 = 6 + 9 Substituting
3𝑡 = 15 𝑡 = 5 into the original equation we
To get rid of the 3 we divide both sides by 3. have

3𝑡 15 (3 × 5) − 9 = 6
=
3 3 The statement is true; therefore, the
𝑡=5 answer is correct.

Exercise:

Solve the following equations:

1. 3𝑥 = 24

2. 15 = 15𝑥

3. 2𝑥 + 6 = 30

4. 15 = 3𝑦 − 13

𝑦
5. =3
5

6. 5𝑚 + 2𝑚 = 21

7. 4𝑥 − 9 = 0

8. 12 + 2𝑦 = 20

9. 0 = 𝑚 − 6

16
10. =4
2𝑦
 Grade 7 Mathematics Worksheet (Week One Solutions)
1. Translate the following verbal statements into algebraic terms:
(a) six plus b →6+𝑏
(b) the sum of 𝑚 and eight → 𝑚 + 8

(c) the difference of three and b → 3 − 𝑏

(d) seventeen times b → 17 × 𝑏 → 7𝑏

ℎ
(e) ℎ divided by nine → ℎ ÷ 9 → 9

(f) Five increased by four times 𝑞 → 5 + (4 × 𝑞 ) → 5 + 4𝑞

3×𝑑 3𝑑
(h) Three times 𝑑, divided by ten→ → 10
10

(i) If the length of a rectangle is 𝑥 and its width is 𝑦, expression the perimeter of the rectangle in terms of 𝑥
and 𝑦.

𝑃 = (𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 )

𝑃 = (𝑥 + 𝑥 + 𝑦 + 𝑦 )

𝑃 = (2𝑥 + 2𝑦)

𝑃 = 2(𝑥 + 𝑦)

(j) The three sides of a triangle are 𝑚, 𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝, express the perimeter of the triangle in terms of
𝑚, 𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝.

𝑃 = (𝑚 + 𝑛 + 𝑝)

N.B.: Any side of the triangle can be labeled 𝒎, 𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑.

(k) Mary has $80 if she spends $𝑥, how much dollars she has left?

When we spend money, we calculate the money left by subtracting, since Mary spent $𝑥,

$80 − $𝑥 → $(80 − 𝑥)

(l) Richard is 𝑤 years old. Express algebraically his age 10 years ago.

If we want to know our age sometime in the past, we have to subtract that number of years from our
present age, (𝑤 − 10)𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠

2. Use the distributive law to simplify the following:

(a) ℎ(𝑔 + 3) → (ℎ × 𝑔) + (ℎ × 3) → ℎ𝑔 + 3ℎ
 (b) 5 ( 𝑝 − 𝑟) → (5 × 𝑝) − (5 × 𝑟) → 5𝑝 − 5𝑟
(c) 𝑤 (6 − 𝑚) → (𝑤 × 6) − (𝑤 × 𝑚) → 6𝑤 − 𝑚𝑤
(d) 14( 𝑧 − 7 + 𝑏) → (14 × 𝑧) − (14 × 7) + (14 × 𝑏) → 14𝑧 − 98 + 14𝑏

(e)Jason is (𝑥 + 2) years old. His aunt, Samantha, is three times as old as Jason. Write and simplify an
expression that represents Samantha’s age in years.

N.B.: Samantha is three times as old as Jason; times is indicating multiply. So, we have to multiply Jason’s
age by three to get Samantha’s age.

3(𝑥 + 2) → (3 × 𝑥 ) + (3 × 2) → 3𝑥 + 6(Samantha’s age)

(f) Two rectangular gardens have the same width of 8m. However, the length of one is 12m while the other is
18m. Write a numerical expression to show what the area is for the two gardens combined?

N.B.: The area of a rectangle is 𝐿 × 𝑊; the width of each rectangle is the same, 8m. Therefore, each length
has to be multiplied by 8m.

8𝑚(12𝑚 + 18𝑚) - Answer