Sessel ate a lot at his favorite Chinese restaurant, Be Happy in Your Wok, and then he paid his bill. If the bill had been half as much, he would have gotten three times as much change. If the bill had been two dollars more, he would have gotten only half as much change as he actually did get. So how much was his change?
Pre-Algebra
Batting Average Raising
A baseball player has been officially at bat 322 times and has a batting average of 0.289 (the number of hits divided by 322 is 0.289). He figures that he will have 53 times at bat for the rest of the season. What batting average does he have to maintain for the rest of the season so that he will end the season with a batting average of at least .300?
Scooters and Tricycles
A fleet of kids on scooters (2 wheels) and tricycles went whizzing by Igor’s workshop. He was quick enough to count 7 kids and 19 wheels. How many tricycles were there?
Horses and Harness
Jessica bought two horses and a harness for a total of $4500. The value of the better horse and the harness together was twice the value of the poorer horse. What is the value of the poorer horse? (You don’t need algebra for this: do it in your head!)
The Scale
As soon as wrestling practice was over, Augie jumped on the scale to see how his weight was doing. But Benny jumped on with him, so Augie couldn’t tell how much he weighed. All the boys could see was that their combined weight was 201 pounds. Then Benny pushed Augie off the scale so he could see about his own weight, but Chuckie jumped on next to Benny. The combined weight of those two was 226 pounds. Then Chuckie pushed Benny off, but Augie still wanted another try, so he jumped on with Chuckie. Their combined weight was 219 pounds. Then the coach chased them away from the scale. The boys remembered those three numbers, though, and they were able to figure out their individual weights. Can you do it too?
Rooster, Goose, Duck Prices
In the 1870’s, on a farm along the Ohio River, a girl was presented with three gifts: a rooster, a goose, and a duck. The duck had cost 20 cents. The rooster and the goose together cost twice as much as the duck. The goose and the duck together cost three times as much as the rooster. How much did the goose cost alone?
Waterbed Weight
Sammy wants to buy a waterbed. It’ll put a lot of strain on the floor of her room. The bed she wants is 4 feet wide by 6 feet long by 8 inches deep. The casing weighs 3 pounds. A cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds. What will the whole thing weigh when it’s full?
Shelley, Veronica, Christy, and Ruth
Divide $106 among Shelley, Veronica, Christy, and Ruth so that Shelley and Veronica together have $56, Shelley and Christy together have $59, and Shelley and Ruth together have $43.
Gas Bill Printing
Two Columbia Gas computers each produce 48,000 gas bills in one day. One computer prints bills at the rate of 9600 per hour and the other at the rate of 7800 per hour. When the faster computer finishes its run, how many bills does the slower computer still have to print?
Tape Sale
Back in the day of analog recording tape, Amalgamated Grissom Enterprises had a sale. Professional quality tape dropped from $30 to $28 per reel, and regular quality tape dropped from $24 to $23 per reel. The Bethel Recording Studio normally spent $1440 per week on tape, 3/4 of which was used for professional quality tape. How much did they save during each week of the sale?