Age word Problems practice questions

Age Problems

Example:

Leah is 2  years older than Tracy. Together the girls  are 10  years

old. How old are they?

1.  The sum of  the ages of  Jessica, her mother, and her

grandmother is 100  years. The grandma is twice as

old as the mother. Jessica's mother is 28  years older

than Jessica. How old is grandma?

2.  The sum of Eric's age and Lucas's age  is 65.  Two

times Eric's age is the same as three times Lucas's

age. Find the ages of  the men.

3. Michael's age is multiplied by 7. Then 9 is added.

The result is 93.  How old is Michael?

Use of  the Words "More Than"

and "Less Than"

Beware of keywords! Many people believe that if  they see

"more than"  in a word problem they must add and with "less

than"  they must subtract. That is not always the case. Look at

the following examples:

Examples:

a)  Sue  weighs 5 pounds more  than Amanda. If Amanda

weighs 103  pounds, how much does Sue weigh?

b)  Sue  weighs 5  pounds  less  than Amanda. If Sue  weighs

103  pounds, how much does Amanda weigh?

c)  A school has an enrollment of 2381 students. This

is 53 students less  than  last year. What was  the

enrollment last year?

d)  A school had an enrollment of  2381 students last

year. This is 53  students  less than this year. What is

the enrollment this year?

In each of these examples should you add or subtract?

Solutions:

a)  Who weighs more? Sue. So we add  5 pounds  to

Amanda's 103  pounds.

b)  Who weighs more? Amanda. So we add 5 pounds

to Sue's 103  pounds

c)  Is  the enrollment larger this year?  No, it is smaller

by 53  students. We add 53  students  to 2381.

d)  Last year's enrollment was smaller than this year's.

We add 53  to 2381.

Answers:

a) and b)  108  pounds; c)  and d)  2434.

Practice  Problems:

1. Six less than a number is 20. Find the number.

2. The sun rose at 7:45 a.m. That is 3 minutes earlier

than yesterday. At what time did the sun rise

yesterday?

3.   The water level in the reservoir was 67.3  ft. That is

0.1  ft. higher than a month ago. What was the water

level a month ago?

4.  The population of  the village  is 487.  That is 16

people less than 5 years ago. What was the

population 5 years ago?

5.  Joan weights 143  pounds. That is 10  pounds more

than she weighed 5 years ago. How much did she

weigh 5 years ago?