Lesson 5
Math Formulas
1. Work-rate problem
A. Same work – different groups of workers
Work = rate * time
Rate final = rate 1 ± rate 2 ± rate 3…
Eg: Water flows into an empty tank of 54 liters through 12 pipes. The rate of each pipes
flowing is 1 liter per hour. However, water also flows out the tank through some larger pipes
at the rate of 1.5 liters per hour. If the tank is completely full after 12 hours, how many large
pipes are there?
A. 2.5
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5
E. 6
Eg: 8 children and 12 men complete a certain work in 9 weeks. If each child takes
twice the time taken by a man to finish the work, in how many weeks will 12
men finish the same work?
A. 6
B. 8
C. 12
D. 15
E. 18
1. Work-rate problem
B. Work alone – together
Eg: John can complete eating 10 kg of potatoes in 3 months. If John
eats with Adrew, they can complete it in 1 month, how many days does
it take Andrew can complete 20 kg of potatoes alone?
2. Distance – Speed – Time
S= v* t
!"#$% &
v (average) = !"#$% #
Eg: If Sarah drove at 50 kmh during the first hour of her trip and 80 kmh during the
second and the third hour, what was her average speed for the 3- hour trip?
2. Distance – Speed – Time
A. Same distance – different speed and time
Eg: A bike messenger delivers a package from A to B , traveling at an average
speed of 24 miles per hour. On the way back, he gets stuck in traffic, which
reduces his average speed by 12.5% for the return trip. What was the bike
messenger’s average speed, in miles per hour, for the round trip?
A. 22
B. 22.1
C. 22.4
D. 22.5
E. 23
2. Distance – Speed – Time
A. Same distance – different speed and time
Eg: If a car travels at 35kmh, it will reach the destination 2 hours late. If it
travels at 50 kmh, it will reach the destination 1 hours early. How fast does
the car if it have to reach the destination on time?
A. 42 kmh
B. 43.5 kmh
C. 43.75 kmh
D. 44.25 kmh
E. 44.5kmh
2. Distance – Speed – Time
A. Same distance – different speed and time
* Stream (current)
Eg: A boat traveled upstream 90 miles at an average speed of (v-3)
miles per hour and then traveled back the same distance downstream
at an average speed of (v+3) miles per hour. If the trip upstream took
half an hour longer than the trip downstream, how many hours did it
take the boat travel downstream?
2. Distance – Speed – Time
A. Same distance – different speed and time
• Revolution
Eg: If the blades of a windmill are 10 meters and the endpoints of the
blades rotate at the speed of 100𝜋 meters per minute, how many
revolutions per minute do the blades make?
2. Distance – Speed – Time
B. Meeting point
Eg: Sarah and John are 360 miles apart and traveling toward each other
at a constant rate of 25 mph and 65 mph respectively, how far apart
will they be exactly 1.5 hours before they meet?
2. Distance – Speed – Time
B. Meeting point
Eg: Sam leaves her home for school on her bike at 9:05 am, riding at the
speed of 10 mph. Fifteen minutes later, her mother realizes that Sam forgot
to take her lunch. Sam’s mother immediately drives after Sam at an average
speed of 25 mph. At what time will Sam’s mom catch up to her?
A. 9:15 am
B. 9:20 am
C. 9:25 am
D. 9:26 am
E. 9:30 am
3. Percent – Interest
A. Percentage change
% change =
What percent is the number of students of last year less than that of
this year?
What percent is the number of students of this year more than that of
last year?
3. Percent – Interest
A. Percentage change
Eg: If a store increased the price for the good A by 30% but had to sell
all of A at 20% discount, what was the actual increase in the price of A?
Eg: What will be the percentage increase in the area of a circle if the
circumference of it grows by 10%?
3. Percent – Interest
A. Percentage change
Eg: The rate of a certain chemical reaction is directly proportional to the square of
the concentration of chemical A present and inversely proportional to the
concentration of chemical B present. If the concentration of chemical B is increased
by 100% , which of the following is closet to the percent change in the
concentration of chemical A required to keep the reaction rate unchanged?
3. Percent – Interest
B. Price, Cost and Profits
Selling price = Cost/ Purchase price + profit/markup
Eg: A car-dealer sells a car for $2,400. If the price includes a 20%
markup, what would be the price of the car with a 15% markup?
3. Percent – Interest
B. Price, Cost and Profits
Profit = Revenue – Cost = Final price – Cost
Eg: A shop purchased a pair of sunglasses for $120 and was selling it at
a price that equaled the purchased price of the sunglasses plus a
markup that was 25% of the selling price. After some time the shop
owner decided to decrease the selling price by 20%. What was the
shop’s gross profit on this sale?
3. Percent – Interest
C. Interest
Simple interest
Compound interest
3. Percent – Interest
C. Interest
Eg: John invested $100 at 5% interest compound annually, the total
value of the investment, in dollars, at the end of 4 years would be:
John invested $100 at 5% interest compound annually, the total value
of the investment, in dollars, at the end of 6 months would be:
John invested $100 at 5% interest annually compound quarterly, the
total value of the investment, in dollars, at the end of 2 years would be:
John invested $100 at 5% interest compound quarterly, the total value of
the investment, in dollars, at the end of 2 years would be:
3. Percent – Interest
C. Interest
Eg: A certain account pays 1.5 % compound interest every 3 months. A
person invested an initial amount and did not invest any more money in the
account after that. If after exactly 5 years, the amount of the money in the
account was T dollars, which of the following is an expression for the original
number of dollars invested in the account?
A. 1.0154 T
B. 1.01515 T
C. 1.01520 T
!
D.1.01515
!
E.
1.015!"