Mathematics For

Engineers 2
Application of Algebra and Worded Problems
MODULE 1
What is Language
• Language is the system of words, signs and symbols which people use
to express ideas, thoughts and feelings.
• Language consists of the words, their pronunciation and the methods
of combining them to be understood by a community.
• Language is a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by
the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures or marks having
understood meanings
What is Mathematical Language
• Mathematical Language is the system used to communicate mathematical
ideas.

• Mathematical Language has its own grammar, syntax, vocabulary, word order,
synonyms, conventions, idioms, abbreviations, sentence structure and
paragraph structure. It has certain language features unparalleled in other
languages, such as representation.

• Mathematical Language also includes a large component of logic. The ordinary

language which gradually expands to comprise symbolisms and logic leads to
learning of mathematics and its useful application to problem situations.
Characteristics of Mathematical
Language
The use of language in mathematics differs from the language of
ordinary speech in three important ways:
1. Mathematical language is non-temporal. There is no past, present
or future in mathematics.
2. Mathematical language is devoid of emotional content.
3. Mathematical language is precise.
Basic Operation Terms and
Symbols
Mathematical Expressions
• The terms is separated from other terms with either plus or minus
signs. A single term may contain an expression in parentheses or
other grouping symbols.
Mathematical Sentence
• combines two mathematical expressions using a comparison operator.
These expressions either use numbers, variables or both. The
comparison operators include equal, not equal, greater than, greater
than or equal to, less than and less than or equal to. The signs which
convey equality or inequality are also called relation symbols because
they specify how two expressions are related. A mathematical
expressions containing the equal sign is an equation. The two parts of
an equation are called members. A mathematical expression
containing the inequality sign is an inequality.
Example of an equation
Example of Inequalities
Translating English into Math
Language
• Example 1: Six less than twice a number is forty five.
Solution:
Step 1: Let x be the number
2: “twice” means “two times” so “twice a number” will be “2x”.
3: “less than” means “minus” so “Six less than” will be “- 6”
4: so “Six less than twice a number” will be “2x – 6” and its equal to 45

answer: 2x - 6 = 45
Translating English into Math
Language
• Example 2: Two greater than twice a number is Twenty.
Solution:
Step 1: Let x be the number
2: “twice” means “two times” so “twice a number” will be “2x”.
3: “greater than” means “plus” so “greater than Six” will be “+ 2”
4: so “Two greater than twice a number” will be “2x + 2” and its equal to 20

answer: 2x + 2 = 20
Translating English into Math
Language
• Example 3: Four greater than the product of five and a number is
twenty nine.
Solution:
Step 1: Let x be the number
2: “product” means “times” so “product of five and a number ” will be “5x”.
3: “greater than” means “plus” so “greater than Six” will be “+ 4”
4: so “Four greater than the product of five and a number” will be “5x + 4 ”
5: and 29 is the sum of the expression 5x + 4.

answer: 5x + 4 = 29
Translating English into Math
Language
• Example 4: Nine greater than the quotient of a number and seven is
eleven.
Solution:
Step 1: Let x be the number
2: “quotient” means “divided by” so “quotient of a number and seven ” will be .
3: “greater than” means “plus” so “greater than Six” will be “+ 9”
4: so “Nine greater than the quotient of a number and seven ” will be “ + 9 ”.
5: and 11 is the sum of the expression + 9 .

answer: + 9 = 11
Solving Word Problems by
Adding and Subtracting
Fractions and Mixed Numbers
• Example 1: Rachel rode her bike for one-fifth of a mile on Monday and two-fifths of a mile on
Tuesday. How many miles did she ride altogether?

Analysis: To solve this problem, we will add two fractions with like denominators.

Solution:

Answer: Rachel rode her bike for three-fifths of a mile altogether.

Solving Word Problems by
Adding and Subtracting
Fractions and Mixed Numbers
• Example 2: Stefanie swam four-fifths of a lap in the morning and seven-fifteenths of a lap in the
evening. How much farther did Stefanie swim in the morning than in the evening?

Analysis: To solve this problem, we will subtract two fractions with unlike denominators.

Solution:
- =- =- = = =

Answer: Stefanie swam one-third of a lap farther in the morning.

Solving Word Problems by
Adding and Subtracting
Fractions and Mixed Numbers
• Example 3: Sam had 120 teddy bears in his toy store. He sold of them at $12 each. How much did
he receive?

Solution:
Step 1: Find the number of teddy bears sold.
He sold 80 teddy bears.

Step 2: Find how much money he received.

80 × 12 = 960
He received $960
Solving Word Problems by
Adding and Subtracting
Fractions and Mixed Numbers
• Example 4: of a group of children were girls. If there were 24 girls, how many children were there
in the group?
Solution:

3 units = 24
1 unit = 24 ÷ 3 = 8
5 units = 5 × 8 = 40
There were 40 children in the group.
Solving Integer Problems
• Example 1: Find two consecutive integers whose sum is equal 129.
Solution :
Let x be 1st number
Let x + 1 be 2nd number (consecutive integers differ by 1)
Use the fact that their sum is equal to 129 to write the equation then simply to find the value of x
x + (x + 1) = 129
x + x + 1 = 129 ( add x and x)
2x + 1 = 129 (transpose 1 to the other side)
2x = 129 – 1
= (divide both side by 2 to get the value of x)
x = 64 (1st number)
x + 1 = 65 (2nd number)
the numbers are 64, and 65
Solving Integer Problems
• Example 2: Find three consecutive integers whose sum is equal to 366.
Solution :
Let the three numbers be x, x + 1 and x + 2. their sum is equal to 366, hence
x + (x + 1) + (x + 2) = 366 (simplify and solve the value of x)
3x + 3 = 366 ( transpose 3 to the other side)
3x = 366 – 3 (divide both side by 3)
=
x = 121
find the three numbers
x = 121 , x + 1 = 122 and x + 2 = 123 x + (x + 1) = 129
the numbers are 121, 122, and 123.
Solving Integer Problems
• Example 3: The sum of three consecutive even integers is equal to 84. Find the numbers.
Solution :
The difference between two even integers is equal to 2. let x, x + 2 and x + 4 be the three numbers.
Their sum is equal to 84, hence
x + (x + 2) + (x + 4) = 84 (simplify and solve the value of x)
3x + 6 = 84 ( transpose 6 to the other side)
3x = 84 – 6 (divide both side by 3)
=
x = 26
find the three numbers
x = 26 , x + 2 = 28 and x + 4 = 30
the numbers are 26, 28, and 30.
Solving Integer Problems
• Example 4: The sum on an odd integer and twice its consecutive is equal to equal to 3757. Find the number.
Solution :
The difference between two odd integers is equal to 2. let x be an odd integer and x + 2 be its consecutive.
The sum of x and twice its consecutive is equal to 3757 gives an equation of the form
x + 2(x + 2) = 3757 (simplify and solve the value of x)
3x + 4 = 3757 ( transpose 4 to the other side)
3x = 3757 – 4 (divide both side by 3)
=
x = 1251
find the other number
x = 1251 , x + 2 = 1253
the numbers are 1251, and 1253.
Solving Age Problems
• Example 1: Five years ago, John’s age was half of the age he will be in 8 years. How old is he now?
Solution:
Step 1: Let x be John’s age now. Look at the question and put the relevant expressions above it.

Step 2: Write out the equation.

Isolate variable x

Answer: John is now 18 years old.

Solving Age Problems
• Example 2: John is twice as old as his friend Peter. Peter is 5 years older than Alice. In 5 years, John will be three times as
old as Alice. How old is Peter now?
Solution: Step 1: Set up a table.

Step 2: Fill in the table with information given in the question. John is twice as old as his friend Peter. Peter is 5 years older
than Alice. In 5 years, John will be three times as old as Alice. How old is Peter now? Let x be Peter’s age now. Add 5 to get
the ages in 5 yrs.
Write the new relationship in an equation using the ages in 5 yrs.
In 5 years, John will be three times as old as Alice.
2x + 5 = 3(x – 5 + 5)
2x + 5 = 3x
Isolate variable x
x=5
Answer: Peter is now 5 years old.
Solving Age Problems
• Example 3: John’s father is 5 times older than John and John is twice as old as his sister Alice. In two years time, the sum of
their ages will be 58. How old is John now?
Solution: Step 1: Set up a table.

Step 2: Fill in the table with information given in the question. John’s father is 5 times older than John and John is twice as old
as his sister Alice. In two years time, the sum of their ages will be 58. How old is John now? Let x be John’s age now. Add 2 to
get the ages in 2 yrs.
Write the new relationship in an equation using the ages in 2 yrs.
In two years time, the sum of their ages will be 58.

Answer: John is now 8 years old.

Solving Ratio and Proportion
Problems
• Example 1: In a bag of red and green sweets, the ratio of red sweets to green sweets is 3:4. If the bag
contains 120 green sweets, how many red sweets are there?
• Solution: Step 1: Assign variables :
Let x = red sweets
Write the items in the ratio as a fraction.
Step 2: Solve the equation
Cross Multiply
3 × 120 = 4 × x
360 = 4x
Isolate variable x

Answer: There are 90 red sweets.

Solving Ratio and Proportion
Problems
• Example 2: John has 30 marbles, 18 of which are red and 12 of which are blue. Jane has 20 marbles, all of
them either red or blue. If the ratio of the red marbles to the blue marbles is the same for both John and
Jane, then John has how many more blue marbles than Jane?
• Solution: Step 1: Sentence: Jane has 20 marbles, all of them either red or blue. Assign variables:
Let x = blue marbles for Jane, 20 – x = red marbles for Jane
We get the ratio from John
John has 30 marbles, 18 of which are red and 12 of which are blue.

We use the same ratio for Jane.

Step 2: Solve the equation
Cross Multiply
3 × x = 2 × (20 – x)
3x = 40 – 2x
Isolate variable x

John has 12 blue marbles. So, he has 12 – 8 = 4 more blue marbles than Jane.
Answer: John has 4 more blue marbles than Jane.
Solving Ratio and Proportion
Problems
• Example 2: A special cereal mixture contains rice, wheat and corn in the ratio of 2:3:5. If a bag of the mixture
contains 3 pounds of rice, how much corn does it contain?
• Solution: Step 1: Step 1: Assign variables :
Let x = amount of corn
Write the items in the ratio as a fraction.
Step 2: Solve the equation
Cross Multiply
2×x=3×5
2x = 15
Isolate variable x

Answer: The mixture contains 7.5 pounds of corn.

 Activity 1
Solve the following problems.
1. Find four consecutive even integers so that the sum of the first two
added to twice the sum of the last two is equal to 742.
2. Clothing store A sells T-shirts in only three colors: red, blue and
green. The colors are in the ratio of 3 to 4 to 5. If the store has 20
blue T-shirts, how many T-shirts does it have altogether?
3. Mary is three times as old as her son. In 12 years, Mary's age will be
one year less than twice her son's age. How old is each now?