Solving Two-Variable Word Problems for Grade 5

Maria has 3 times as many apples as John. If John has x apples, how many apples does Maria have?

• 3x

• 4x

• x

• 2x

A book costs $5 and a magazine costs $3. If you buy x books and y magazines for $30, how can you express this as an equation?

• 5x + 3y = 30

• 5x + 2y = 30

• 4x + 3y = 30

• 6x + 3y = 30

Tom and Jerry are collecting stickers. Tom has 4 more stickers than Jerry. If Jerry has y stickers, how many does Tom have?

• y + 1

• y - 4

• y + 2

• y + 4

A car travels 60 miles per hour and a bike travels 15 miles per hour. If the car travels x hours, how far does the bike travel in the same time?

• 15x miles

• 30x miles

• 45x miles

• 60x miles

Samantha has twice as many marbles as her brother. If her brother has m marbles, how many marbles does Samantha have?

• 2m

• 3m

• m/2

• m

A pizza has 8 slices. If you eat x slices, how many slices are left? Write an equation to represent this situation.

• x - 8

• 8 * x

• 8 + x

• 8 - x

Lily bought 5 notebooks and 3 pens for $20. If the notebooks cost x dollars each and the pens cost y dollars each, how can you express this as an equation?

• 5x + 3y = 20

• 5x + 4y = 20

• 4x + 3y = 20

• 5x + 2y = 20

A farmer has chickens and cows. If there are c cows and each cow has 4 legs, how many legs do the cows have? How can you express the total number of legs if there are also h chickens?

• 4 * c + h

• 2 * c + 4 * h

• 4 * c + 2 * h

• 4 * c + 4 * h

In a school, there are 120 students. If there are x boys and y girls, how can you express the relationship between boys and girls?

• x + y = 100

• x - y = 120

• x * y = 120

• x + y = 120

A gardener plants x flowers in the morning and y flowers in the afternoon. If he plants a total of 50 flowers in one day, how can you write an equation for this situation?

• x + y = 25

• x * y = 50

• x - y = 50

• x + y = 50