Printable · GCSE Foundation · ages 14-16

Forming and solving equations from situations worksheet — GCSE Foundation

Fifteen questions on "forming and solving equations from situations" — DfE statement A21. Print it, or print three versions so neighbours cannot copy by letter; the key gives the letter for each version.

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Forming and solving equations from situations worksheet — GCSE Foundation

Maths · GCSE Foundation · A21 · Forming and solving equations from situations · 15 questions

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1.Grace has t books. Noah has 1 book fewer than Grace. Write down an expression for the number of books Noah has.
(a)t + 1
(b)t − 1
(c)1 − t
(d)t
2.Mia buys 3 identical notebooks and a pen costing £1.50. She pays a total of £9.90. Form an equation using n for the cost of one notebook, and solve it to find n.
(a)£2.48
(b)£3.30
(c)£2.80
(d)£3.80
3.Jack is x years old. His brother Kwame is 3 years older than Jack. Write down an expression for Kwame's age.
(a)x + 3
(b)3 − x
(c)x − 3
(d)3x
4.Explain why the equation 4x + 3 = 4x + 10 has no solution for x.
(a)Subtracting 4x gives 3 = 10, which is never true.
(b)x would have to be negative, but x must be positive.
(c)It's true for every x, so there are infinite solutions.
(d)x = 7, since 10 − 3 = 7.
5.Leo is three times as old as his brother. His brother is x years old. Write down an expression for Leo's age.
(a)3x
(b)x − 3
(c)x/3
(d)x + 3
6.A cinema sells adult tickets for £10 and child tickets for £6. A family group buys 9 tickets in total, spending £74. Work out how many adult tickets were bought.
(a)7.4
(b)1.25
(c)5
(d)4
7.A phone plan costs a fixed £15 per month plus 8p per minute of calls. In one month, Jamal's bill was £23.80. Form an equation using m for the number of minutes, and solve it to find how many minutes Jamal used that month.
(a)485
(b)1.1
(c)297.5
(d)110
8.Priya buys b balloons for a party. Each balloon costs 15p. Write down an expression for the total cost, in pence.
(a)b − 15
(b)b + 15
(c)b/15
(d)15b
9.Six years ago Harry was three times as old as his brother Leo. Harry is now 24 years old. Work out Leo's age now.
(a)12
(b)8
(c)36
(d)6
10.A rectangle has length k cm and width 5 cm less than its length. Write down an expression for the width of the rectangle, in cm.
(a)k + 5
(b)k − 5
(c)5k
(d)5 − k
11.The mean of four numbers is 12.5. Three of the numbers are 8, 15 and 19. Form an equation using n for the fourth number, and solve it to find n.
(a)−4.5
(b)50
(c)29.5
(d)8
12.A number, n, is doubled and then 7 is subtracted. The result is 15. Form an equation and solve it to find n.
(a)11
(b)4
(c)7.5
(d)22
13.A scout leader is 44 years old and one of the scouts is 16 years old. Work out how many years it will be until the leader is exactly twice as old as the scout.
(a)6 years
(b)12 years
(c)14 years
(d)28 years
14.A box contains 6 chocolates. Write down an expression for the total number of chocolates in c boxes.
(a)6c
(b)6 + c
(c)c ÷ 6
(d)c − 6
15.Yuki is y years old. Her brother is 4 years younger than Yuki. Write down an expression, in terms of y, for the brother's age in 5 years' time.
(a)y + 1
(b)y − 4
(c)y − 9
(d)y + 9

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