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MATH LECTURE - 04
Part Contents (Algebra) Page
1 CLASS PRACTICE 02
• RATIO & PROPORTION
• PERCENTAGE
• PROFIT & LOSS
• INTERESTS

2 TAKE-HOME ASSIGNMENT 08

3 REVIEW LESSON FOR THE NEXT LECTURE 10

 PART I: CLASS PRACTICE

GROUP 1: RATIO AND PROPORTIONS

Fundamental Concepts:
Basics: In solving ratios or proportions that have units of measurement (feet, seconds, miles, etc.),
each ratio must have the same unit. For example, if we have the ratio 5 inches: 3 feet, we must convert
the 3 feet to 36 inches and then set up the ratio 5 inches: 36 inches or 5:36.

# If two numbers are in the ratio of a:b, then for some number x, the first number is ax and the second
number is bx. Although for ratio & proportion rather than taking x, take a number which is a multiple of
the LCM of the denominators.

𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎

# Finding a portion from a ratio and total number: × Total number =
𝑆𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜
Desired portion

# If A:B = 2:3 & B:C = 4:5. We can combine these two ratios by multiplying the common part of the ratio
(here, B) on both sides.

Example: A:B = 2 × 4 : 3 × 4 & B:C = 4 × 3 : 5 × 3. Then, A:B:C will be 8:12:15

Maths:
1
1. On a blueprint of a park, 1 foot represents 1 mile. If an error of
inch is made in reading the blueprint,
4
what will be the corresponding error on the actual park? [1 mile = 5280 feet]
a. 110 feet b. 220 feet c. 330 feet d. 440 feet e. None of these
2. A jar contains black and white marbles. If there are 20 marbles in the jar, all of the following could be
the ratio of black to white marbles EXCEPT:
a. 9:1 b. 7:3 c. 1:1 d. 1:4 e. 1:10

1 1
3. If of the girls at a school equals of the total number of students, then what is the ratio of girls to
3 5
boys at that school?
a. 5:3 b. 3:2 c. 2:5 d. 1:3 e. 1:5

4. The ratio between two numbers is 3 : 4 and their LCM is 180. What is the first number?
a. 60 b. 45 c. 20 d. 15 e. 30

5. If 0.4 of a number is equal to 0.06 of another number, the ratio of the number is?
a. 2:3 b. 3:4 c. 3:20 d. 10:3 e. 4:3

Partnerships: In the case of a partnership business: the general rule is that the partner who invests
more, receives a greater share (or percentage) of the profit in proportion to that investment. If the
duration of investment is mentioned then we have to consider that too as a weight. Percentage or share
of profit will be given according taking both investment amount and weight into calculation.

# 𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑰𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 = 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 × 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕

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Maths:

6. Polash started a business on the first day of 2008. Qader joined the business of Polash on partnership
contract with double investment of Polash on July 1 of 2008. Sohel, on the first day of September
2008, joined the partnership business of Polash and Qader with thrice the investment of Polash. The
firm earned a profit of Tk. 72,000 on 31st December, 2008. What will be the share of profit of Sohel?

a. Tk. 36,000 b. Tk. 24,000 c. Tk. 12,000 d. Tk. 18,000 e. None of these

GROUP 2: PERCENTAGE

Fundamental Concepts:

Percentage Conversion and Calculation:

# The basic equation for percentage is:
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡
* Base number= desired value
100

Example: Find 30% of 200. 30% of 200 = 30% x 200 = 0.30 x 200 = 60

# To change a fraction to a percent, find its decimal form, multiply by 100 and add a percent sign.
3
Example: Express as a percent.
8
3
Solution: To convert to a decimal, divide 3 by 8; this gives us 0.375. Multiplying 0.375 by 100 gives us
8
37.5%.

# To change a percent to a fraction, drop the percent sign and divide the number by 100.
Example: Express 17% as a fraction.
Solution: Dropping the % sign gives us 17, and dividing by 100 gives us = 0.17
(Refer to the speed calculation tool : Fraction Percent Matrix for shortcut memorization)

Maths:

7. What is 0.5 percent of 6.5?

a. 0.0325 b. 0.013 c. 0.325 d. 1.30 e. 130.0

8. Nabila’s salary is 125% of Mariha’s salary. Cynthia’s salary is 80% of Mariha’s salary. The total of all
three salaries is $61,000. What is Cynthia’s salary?
a. $15,000 b. $16,000 c. $17,000 d. $18,000 e. $19,000

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 Speed Calculation Tool: Fraction– Percent Matrix

1 2 3 4 5

10

6 7 8 9 10
1

10

Fill the Matrix as much as you think you need. You can’t memorize all these, neither is expected from
you. But a careful exercise will speed up your calculation and will serve as an error guard and auto
correction.

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Removing or Adding things to Change Percentage:

# Assume the quantity to be added/removed as x. So, x will be added/subtracted from the total amount
as well as from the amount of that category. The new ratio obtained is equal to the given percentage.
Now form the equation and solve for x. The equation should be as follows:

𝐴𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑜𝑟𝑦 ± 𝑥

𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 ± 𝑥

Maths:
9. A box contains 24 red socks and 43 green socks. How many green socks must be removed from the
box so that 60% of the socks in the box will be green?
a. 6 b. 7 c. 8 d. 9 e. None of these

Percentage Increase / Decrease:

# Consider the Initial value as 100x (or 100xy if two variables). Consider new value as 100x (or 100xy)
± percentage value.
𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
# 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = 𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
× 100 %

10. A machine is producing 800 units per minute. If its productivity falls by a half percent, how many units
will it produce now?
a. 4 b. 40 c. 400 d. 800 e. None of these

11. The annual revenue of the SARA agency increased by 25% last year. This year, it increased by 20%.
If the increase in the exports was 1 million Taka last year, then what is the increase (in million Taka)
this year?
a. 0.78 b. 0.8 c. 1 d. 1.2 e. 1.25

12. Width of a rectangle is increased by 25% & length is decreased by 25%. New area is what percent of
original area?
a. 90% b. 100% c. 93.75% d. 1.25% e. None of these

Successive Percentage Increase / Decrease:

# If a value changes by A% at first and successively changes by B%, the overall change from the initial
𝐴𝐵
value would be = 𝐴 + 𝐵 +
100
If it decreases by A%/B%, a negative sign will be used there.

The shortcut used above can be used in cases of area as well.

Example:
If the length of a rectangle increases by 10%, the area of it increases by 10%.
In the same way, if the width decreases by 10%, the area of it decreases by 10%.

Maths:

13. If a product is sold at 20% markup of cost and the seller gives 10% discount on a weekend, what profit
will he make in percentage?
a. 10% b. 30% c. 8% d. 12% e. None of these

14. The price of sugar has increased by 60%. In order to restore the original price, the new price must be
reduced by:
a. 33.33% b. 35% c. 37.5% d. 60% e. 66.66%

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 GROUP 3: PROFIT AND LOSS

Fundamental Concepts:
Basics:
# Gross profit is equal to revenues minus expenses or selling price minus cost. When expenses or costs
are higher the outcome is loss.

# For profit/loss, the percentage works on cost price. For discount/ mark up- mark down, the percentage
works on selling price.

Mark-up or expected margin Discount or Mark Down

Cost 100%

Drill-1: You buy a shirt from Westecs, which costs you 80 Taka. It was on EID sale at 25%
discount. What was the tag price?

Drill-2: A peddler bought a Panjabi for 200 taka. He planned to make a profit of 25%. But the
market was dull and he had to offer a 20% discount. What was his selling price and profit
margin?

Drill-3: You bought the ticket of the mega-hit movie “TITANIC” for much above the market price.
But you lost appetite for the movie and sold it to one of your friends for 160 Taka which counted
for a 20% loss on your purchasing price. What was your purchasing price?
# Considering cost price as 100x instead of x will make calculations much easier.

# Discount and successive discount:

If the price is discounted by a percent, then the price becomes (100 – a) percent of the original price.
When b is the rate of successive discount and a, b are two consecutive discount rates, then
ab
Equivalent single discount = – a – b +
100

Note: For individual price increase use positive sign (+) before a & b and for discount use negative sign
(-) before a & b in the above formula of successive change. Here, the signs before both a & b are
negative because both of them are discount rates.

Maths:
15. A businessman buys 1,440 dozen pens at $2.50 a dozen and then sells them at a price of 25 cent
a piece. What is his total profit on the lot of pens?
a. $60.00 b. $72.00 c. $720.00 d. $874.00 e. $8,740.00
16. A seller makes a profit of 20% by selling a product at 60 Tk. What is his cost price?
a. 48 b. 40 c. 50 d. 72 e. None of these

17. After a 20 percent decrease in price, the cost of an item becomes D dollars. What was the price of
the item before the decrease?
a. 0.75D b. 0.80D c. 1.20D d. 1.25D e. 1.5D

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Mark up, listed price and discounts:

# In case of a mark up, first increase the cost price to the marked up price i.e. add the percentage value
of the mark up with the cost price 100x. The obtained price is called listed price/initial selling
price/marked up price. If there is a discount, it is calculated from the listed price.

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 = 𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 − (𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 × 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆)
𝑨𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 = 𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 × (𝟏 − 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆)

Maths:
1
18. A retailer buys a radio from the wholesaler for $75.00. He then marks up the price by and sells it
3
at a discount of 20%. What was his profit on the radio?
a. $5.00 b. $6.67 c. $7.50 d. $10.00 e. $13.33
19. A product marked Tk. 80 is offered at a discount of 25% during a sale. At this reduced price, the
seller gains a profit of 20%. The cost of the seller is-
a. 48 b. 80 c. 50 d. 60 e. None of these

Miscellaneous:

Maths:

20. A store usually sells a certain item at 40% profit. One week, the store has a sale, during which the
item is sold for 10% less than the usual price. During the sale, what is the percent profit the store
makes on each of these items?
a. 14% b. 24% c. 26% d. 30% e. 36%

21. Rabib usually makes a 45% profit on every Danish Condensed Milk he sells. During a sale, he
reduces his margin of profit to 40% while his sales increase by 10%. What is the ratio of his new
total profit to the original profit?
d. 11:10 e. 44:45
a. 1:1 b. 45:44 c. 8:9
22. Tarique has x eggs. He sells 12 of them at a profit of 10 percent and the rest of the eggs at a loss
of 10 percent. He made neither a profit nor a loss overall. Which one of the following equals x?
a. 10 b. 13 c. 12 d. 24 e. 14

GROUP 5: INTERESTS

Fundamental Concepts:

Simple Interest:
If a person borrows some money from someone for a certain period then the borrower has to pay some
extra money, called interest (I) on the money borrowed for that period. The money borrowed is called
principle (P) and the total sum comprising principle and the interest is called the amount (A). If the
interest on a certain sum borrowed for a certain period is reckoned uniformly, then it is called simple
interest.
If Amount = A, Principle = P, Interest = I, Time = T (in year), Rate of interest per annum = R
PRT
i. I 
100
P(100  RT)
ii. A 
100

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Maths:

23. How much simple interest will $2000 earn in 18 months at an annual rate of 6%?
a. Tk. 90 b. 120 c. 140 d. 160 e. 180
24. A moneylender charged Tk. 25 as simple interest on a loan of Tk. 150 for 1/6 years. What was the
rate of interest per annum?
a. 125 b. 50 c. 75 d. 25 e. 100

Compound Interest:
Money is to be lent at compound interest when at the end of a year or other fixed period the interest
that has become due is not paid, but is added to the sum lent, and the amount thus obtained becomes
the principle for the next period. The process is repeated until the amount for the last period has been
found. The difference between the original principle and the final amount is the required compound
interest.
r t
i. Amount after compound interest is applied = P(1 )
100
r t -p
ii. Compound interest = P(1 )
100

Maths:
25. A sum of money was put into a bank. After 1 year the money grew to $330. If the rate of interest
was 10% compounded annually, what was the initial amount put into the bank?
a. $250 b. $280 c. $300 d. $310 e. None of these

PART III: TAKE HOME ASSIGNMENT

1. Which of the following expresses the ratio of 3 inches to 2 yards?

a. 3:2 b. 1:9 c. 1:4 d. 1:8 e. 1:24
2. If coconuts are twice as expensive as bananas and bananas are one-third as expensive as
grapefruits, what is the ratio of the price of a coconut to that of a grapefruit?
a. 2:3 b. 3:2 c. 6:1 d. 1:6 e. None of these
1
3. On a blueprint, inch represents 1 foot. If a window is supposed to be 60 inches wide, how wide
4
would its representation be on the blueprint?
1 1 1 2
a. 1 inches b. 1 inches c. 1 inches d. 15 inches e. 18 inches
6 4 3 3
4. If the ratio of Tarique's allowance to Neelim's allowance is 3:2, and the ratio of Tarique’s allowance
to Zafar’s allowance is 3:4, what is the ratio of Neelim's allowance to Zafar’s allowance?
a. 8:9 b. 2: 5 c. 1:2 d. 3:4 e. 9:8
5. On a map, 1 inch represents 1000 miles. If the area of a country is actually 16 million square miles,
what is the area of the country’s representation on the map?
a. 4 sq. inches b. 16 sq. inches c. 4,000 sq. inches
d. 16,000 sq. inches e. 4 10 sq. Inches
6

6. What is the percentage increase of an account that began with a balance of $250000 and increased
to $250005?
a. 0.0145% b. 0.00145% c. 0.00002% d. 0.002% e. 1.011%

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 3
7. By how much is larger than 20% of 2?
7
1 1 1 1 1
a. b. c. d. e.
20 25 30 35 40
8. Successive discounts of 20% and 12% are equivalent to a single discount of:
a. 16.0% b. 29.6% c. 32.4% d. 32.0% e. 33.7%
9. In reading a thermometer, Irfan mistakenly observed a temperature of 72 instead of 77. What
was her percentage of error (to the nearest hundredth of a percent)?
a. 5.0% b. 6.50% c. 6.74% d. 6.82% e. 6.95%
10. A group of people contributed to a charity fund. 30% of them contributed $40 each, 45% contributed
$20 each, and the rest contributed $12 each. What percentage of the total contribution came from
people who gave $40?
a. 25% b. 30% c. 40% d. 45% e. 50%
11. A house cost Mr. Shyam C dollars in 1986. Three years later, he sold the house for 25% more than
what he paid for it. He has to pay a tax of 50% of the gain. How much tax must Mr. Shyam pay?
C C C C
a. C b. c. d. e.
2 4 6 8
12. A Denim Jacket marked $96 is offered for $72. What is the rate of discount on the marked price?
a. 25% b. 27% c. 30% d. 33% e. 36%
13. A coat was sold for $75. The coat was sold for 150% of its cost price. How much did the coat cost?
a. $25 b. $50 c. $75 d. $100 e. $112.50

14. A dealer sold 20 pens for Tk. 60 and gained 20%. How many pens did he buy for Tk. 60?
a. 30 b. 26 c. 24 d. 25 e. 22

15. A merchant buys an old carpet for $25.00. He spends $15.00 to have it restored to good condition
and then sells the carpet for $50.00. What is the percent profit on his total investment?
2
a. 20% b. 25% c. 40% d. 66 % e. 100%
3
16. A lamp is manufactured to sell for $35.00, which yields a profit of 25% of the cost. If the profit is to
be reduced to 15% of the cost, how much will the new retail price be?
a. $30.40 b. $31.60 c. $32.20 d. $33.00 e. $34.20

17. A merchant increased the original price of an item by 10 percent. If she then reduces the new price
by 10 percent, the final result in terms of the original price is:
a. a decrease of 11 percent b. a decrease of 1 percent c. no net change
d. an increase of 1 percent e. an increase of 11 percent
18. Nadif, Faiza, and Atoshi were each given a candy bar. Nadif ate 7/12 of his and Atoshi ate 20% of
her. If Faiza ate more than Atoshi and less than Nadif, what amount could Faiza have eaten?
a. 9/15 b. 2/7 c. 3/5 d. 8/9 e. 1/10
19. Muib buys 5 dozen eggs at 10 paisa per egg. He then sells each dozen for 2 Tk. What is his profit
margin?
a. 9/15 b. 2/7 c. 3/5 d. 8/9 e. 1/10
20. A chair company produces 5,000 luxury chairs per year. Each chair requires Tk 200 in wood and
other materials to build. It also requires 3 hours of work by a craftsman, who earns Tk 30 per hour.
If the company wants to earn Tk 3 million dollars in profit this year, how much should each chair
cost?
a. Tk 890 b. Tk 800 c. Tk 750 d. Tk 900 e. Tk 850
21. A sum of money at compound interest amounts to thrice itself in 3 years. In how many years will it
be 9 times itself?
a.18 b. 12 c. 9 d. 6 e. 10

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22. Tk. 75 is charged as a simple interest on a loan which is taken for 3 years at an interest rate of 5%
per annum. What was the amount of loan in taka?
a. 225 b. 350 c. 475 d. 500 e. 550
23. In how many years taka 1500 will become taka 1860 if the simple interest rate is 6% p.a.?
a. 3 b. 4 c. 5 d. 6 e. None
24. Safa who is weak in maths, puts Tk. 1000 in the bank for two years at 10% interest compounded
annually. At the end of the two years, what will be her balance?
a. Tk. 210 b. Tk. 1100 c. Tk. 1200 d. Tk. 1210 e. Tk. None
25. A sum of $5000 was taken as a loan. After 1 year the money grew to $5500 by compounding
annually. What was the rate of interest per annum?
a. 5% b. 8% c. 10% d. 12% e. None of these

PART III: REVIEW LESSON FOR NEXT LECTURE

Speed, Distance and Time

Distance = Speed  Time
Example: Peter can walk a mile in 10 minutes. He can travel a mile on his bicycle in 2 minutes. How
far away is his uncle’s house if Peter can walk there and return on his bicycle back in 1 hour exactly?

Solution: To solve a rate problem such as the one above, follow these steps:
Step 1: Determine the names of the quantities that represent input, output, and rate in the problem
you are doing. In the example, Peter’s input is time and his output is distance. His rate will be
distance per unit of time, which is commonly called speed.
Step 2: Write down the fundamental relationship in terms of the quantities mentioned, making each
the heading of the column. In the example, set up the table like this:
Speed  Time = Distance

Step 3: Directly below the name of each quantity, write the unit of measurement in terms of the
answer you want. Your choice of unit should be the most convenient one, but remember, once you
have chosen a unit, you must convert all quantities to that unit.
We must select a unit of time. Since a minute was the unit used in this problem, it is the most logical
choice. Similarly, we will choose a mile for our unit of distance. Speed (which is the ratio of distance
to time) will therefore be expressed in miles per minute, usually abbreviated as mile/min. Thus, our
chart now looks like this:
Speed  Time = Distance
mile/min Minutes Miles
Step 4: The problem will mention various situations in which some quantity of input is used to get
a certain quantity of output. Represent each of these situations on a different line of the table,
leaving blanks for unknown quantities.
In the sample problem, four situations are mentioned: Peter can walk a mile in 10 minutes; he can
cover a mile on his bicycle in 2 minutes; he walks to his uncle’s house; and he returns on his bicycle
home. In the diagram, with the appropriate boxes filled, the problem will look like this:
Speed  Time = Distance
mile/min Minutes Miles
1. Walking 10 1
2. Bicycling 2 1
3. Walking
4. Bicycling

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 Step 5: From the chart and from the relationship at the top of the chart, quantities for filling some
of the empty spaces may become obvious. Fill in these values directly.
In the example, on the first line of the chart, we see that the walking speed times 10 equals 1. Thus,
the walking speed is 0.1 mi./min. (mi/min = 1 mi./10 min. = 0.1). Similarly, on the second one, we
see that the bicycle speed (0.05) shown on line 2. Adding this information to our table, we get:
Speed  Time = Distance
mile/min Minutes Miles
1. Walking 0.1 10 1
2. Bicycling 0.5 2 1
3. Walking 0.1
4. Bicycling 0.5
Step 6: Next, fill in the blanks with algebraic expressions to represent the quantities indicated, being
careful to take advantage of simple relationships stated in the problem or appearing in the chart.
Continuing the example, we represent the time spent traveling shown on line 3 by x. According to
the fundamental relationship, the distance traveled on this trip must be 0.1x. Similarly, if y
represents the time shown on line 4, the distance traveled is 0.5y. Thus our chart now looks like
this:
Speed  Time = Distance
mile/min Minutes Miles
1. Walking 0.1 10 1
2. Bicycling 0.5 2 1
3. Walking 0.1 x 0.1x
4. Bicycling 0.5 y 0.5y
Step 7: Now, from the statement of the problem, you should be able to set up enough equations to
solve for all the unknowns. In the example, there are two facts, which we have not used yet. First,
since Peter is going to his uncle’s house and back, it is assumed that the distances covered on the
two trips are equal. Thus we get the equation: 0.1x = 0.5y. We are told that the total time to and
from his uncle’s house is one hour. Since we are using minutes as our unit of time, we convert the
one hour to 60 minutes. Thus we get the equation: x + y = 60. Solving these two equations (0.1x =
0.5y and x + y = 60) algebraically, we find that x = 50 and y = 10.
Step 8: Now that you have all the information necessary, you can calculate the answer required. In
the sample problem, we are required to determine the distance to the uncle’s house which is 0.1x
or 0.5y. Using x = 50 or y = 10 gives us the distance as 5 miles.

Example: In a sports car race, David gives Kenny a head start of 10 miles. David’s car goes 80 miles
per hour and Kenny’s car goes 60 miles per hour. How long should it take David to catch up to Kenny
if they both leave their starting marks at the same time?

Solution:
Speed  Time = Distance
m/hr. Hours Miles
Kenny 60 X 60x
David 80 X 80x
From the statement of the problem, we know that David gave Kenny a 10 miles head start. In other
words, David’s distance is 10 more miles than Kenny’s distance. This can be stated algebraically as
1
60x + 10 = 80x that is, Kenny’s distance + 10 miles = David’s distance. Solving for x gives us x =
2
Rowing Boat, Current & Speed
Another common math word problem is "boat-in-the-river", where speed of the boat and current can be
found. These are actually just a variation of the dreaded uniform motion word problems. With the boat
in the river problems, we assume that the boat has a uniform speed in still water and that the speed of
the water (or the speed of the current in the river) is constant. You will be presented with a math word
problem in which you have to solve the speed of the boat (in still water, implied), or the speed of the
river current, or the time spent going upstream or the time going downstream or the distance travelled
or some combination of these variables.

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Downstream means with the direction of the river current and Upstream means against the direction
of the river current.
With these problems, following variables may be used:
B = speed of the boat in still water
C = the speed of the current
Td = time spent going downstream
Tu = time spent going upstream
Dd = distance gone downstream
Du = distance gone upstream
As with other uniform motion problems, an important algebraic equation to remember is:
Distance = Speed x Time
As in downstream, we are going with the direction of current, so it will work to increase our speed.
Hence, we modify this slightly when we are going downstream to get the actual speed.
Dd = (B + C) x Td
So Downstream speed = B + C
That is, the speed (or rate) of the boat going downstream is the speed of the boat in still water plus
the speed of the current.
But in downstream, we are going against the direction of current, so it will work to decrease our
speed. So we have to change our distance equation to reflect this by subtracting the speed of the
current from the speed of the boat to get our speed.
Du = (B – C) x Tu
So Upstream speed = B – C
Train & Speed

This is just another version of speed, distance, time word problems and the same formula (Distance =
Speed x Time) will be used. Some important points to be kept in mind while solving this particular type
of problems. The principle about objects moving in opposite directions toward each other is- the relative
speed which comes into count is the sum of the speeds of that two objects. Hence, we add two speeds
when they move into opposite direction.
Again, when two objects move in the same direction, the relative speed is the difference between the
speeds of those objects. Thus we subtract the slower object’s speed from the faster object’s speed.
Solving this type of problems, we always use relative speed into the formula, distance = speed x time,
when both the objects are moving.
Nothing complicated about the distance or length! Irrespective to direction, when two objects have
significant lengths, you can always add the lengths of two objects to find out the distance/length that is
to be put in the formula; e.g. two trains crossing each other or a train crossing a bridge or a train crossing
a platform etc.
If one object doesn’t have any significant length, you don’t need to add anything with the length of the
train. Here, distance in the formula will only be the length of the train. Such cases may be- a train
crossing a certain point or a train crossing a man etc.

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