Word Problems:

Addendum #1: Key words

The mystery seems to be in step #1, "Translate into equations". It is sometimes easier said than done. And you really should practice doing word problems. But there are (fairly obvious) clues (key words) in the statement of the problem:

* "and" often means "plus"
* "difference" often means "larger-smaller"
* "five more than" means "+5"
* "next year" means "(this year)+1"
* "twice" means "times 2"
* ages are normally in whole numbers

We see statements like "Billy has two and a half dollars less than Sally." So, B=S-2.50. How about this:

In seven years, Billy's age will be one and a half times Sally's age.

What will Billy's age be in seven years? B+7. What will Sally's age be? S+7. What do we get from the above sentence? B+7=(1.5)(S+7). Right?

Note: I will write a separate article on units (like miles or degrees), and keeping them straight.