Word Problems

Whole Numbers
Thinkityink
Oranges
A truck was loaded with
450 kilograms of oranges.
If the oranges were packed in
3 kilogram bags, how many bags
of oranges were in the load?
2
Milk
A household uses
5 litres of milk per
week.
How much milk does
this household use per
year?
3
Commission
A computer salesperson increased
her commission this month by $446.
How much was her commission last
month if it was $2418 this month?

4
Shoes
Each fortnight a shoe store sells an
average of 24 pairs of men’s shoes,
33 pairs of women’s shoes and
65 pairs of sports shoes.
How many pairs of shoes would this
shop expect to sell in a year?
5
Vinyl gloves
A factory orders 540 cartons of
vinyl gloves to add to the
24 cartons in stock. This supply is
expected to last one year.
How many cartons of vinyl gloves
does this factory use per month?
6
Paint
How much paint is needed to
put two coats of paint onto
the walls of a room? The
area of the walls is 48 square
metres and each litre of paint
covers 16 square metres.
7
Light switches
A house requires 33 light switches.
Of these 16 will be double
switches and 5 will be single
switches with dimmers. If the rest
are standard single switches, how
many of these will be needed?
8
Business Group
A business group with 1283 members ran
a series of meetings to attract new
members. They gained 24 new members
in June, 31 new members in July and
43 new members in August. How many
members are there now?
9
Laboratory chemicals
A laboratory purchased
hydrochloric acid in 6000 ml
containers and then used it to fill
75 ml bottles.
How many 75 ml bottles can be
filled from one container?
10
Flight time
A grandfather decided to visit
his grandchildren. His 45 minute
flight left at 10:08 am.
What time did it arrive?

11
Electrical cable
An electrician expected to
use 350 metres of electrical
cable to wire a new building.
How many 45 metre rolls
should the electrician take?
12
Hospital staff
A small hospital for stroke patients
has 62 staff. Of these, 13 are nurses,
31 are cleaners, 4 work in
administration and the rest work in
the kitchen.
How many kitchen staff are there?
13
Furniture warehouse
A furniture warehouse added a
mezzanine floor of 252 m and a
2

ground floor extension of 116 m .2

What size was the original building if

the final extended building is 794 m ?
2

14
Letterheads
A picture framer uses about
50 letterheads a week.
How many letterheads should she
order from the printer to last her
two years?
15
Answers
1. 150 bags 8. 1381 members
2. 260 litres 9. 80 bottles
3. $1972 10. 10:53 am
4. 3172 pairs of shoes 11. 8 rolls
5. 47 cartons 12. 14 kitchen staff
6. 6 litres 13. 426 m2
7. 12 standard single switches 14. 5200 letterheads

16