Solving problems is about working things out. You learn maths at school because it is an important academic subject, but the maths you learn also has a lot of practical applications.
Let's say you wanted to decorate your bedroom. How many rolls of wallpaper will you need? You could guess, but that could be a waste of money - or worse having to go back to the shop halfway through decorating to get some more.
How about going to visit your friend who has moved to another part of the country. They want to know at roughly what time you will arrive. Your journey is 250 miles by car and is mostly motorway. Do you make a rough guess? You might turn up far too early, or far too late. How do you work it out?
Do this 11-plus quiz and improve your knowledge of maths to solve real life problems.
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For a 315 mile journey she will need 315 ÷ 45 = 7 gal. You have to divide by 45 because you want to find out how many 'lots' of 45 there are in 315: each 'lot' equals 1 gallon: this is the same as adding 'lots' of 45 to itself until you get to 315
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The number of boxes = 15,000 ÷ 250 = 60. You have to divide by 250 because you want to find out how many 'lots' of 250 there are in 15,000: each 'lot' equals 1 box: this is the same as adding 'lots' of 250 to itself until you get to 15,000
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Did you get caught out here? They will ALL have dried in 4 hours: there is NO relationship between the number of pieces and the drying time. D'oh!
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Charlie's house is one-quarter of the size of Henry's house = 1,000 ÷ 4 = 250 m2. Multiplying by ¼ is the same as dividing by 4. The same applies for similar fractions
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Here are the six arrangements:
AB AC BA BC CA CB With problems like this, work in a column because it's easier to see what you are doing. Look at the columns carefully, and you should get an idea of how to deal with simple arrangements like this |
1,830 m = 1,830 ÷ 1.83 = 1,000 fathoms. You have to divide by 1.83 because you want to find out how many 'lots' of 1.83 there are in 1,830 : each 'lot' equals 1 fathom: this is the same as adding 'lots' of 1.83 to itself until you get to 1,830
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If 1 mile = 1.61 km, then 30 miles will be 30 times 1.61 because 30 miles is 30 times more than 1 mile: 30 × 1.61 = 48.3 km
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A quarter of a turn is one-quarter of 360°: just divide 360° by 4
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It will take 4 men 2 ÷ 4 = ½ day. You have to divide by 4 because you want to find out how many 'lots' of 4 there are in 2: each 'lot' equals 1 day. Think of it like this: there are four times as many people working, so the job is going to take a quarter of the time it took one man to do the job
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It will take him 140 ÷ 70 = 2 hr. You have to divide by 70 because you want to find out how many 'lots' of 70 there are in 140: each 'lot' equals 1 hour
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