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Question:

A security guard walks the equivalent of six city blocks when he makes a circuit around the building. If he walks at a pace of eight city blocks every 30 minutes, how long will it take him to complete a circuit around the building, assuming he doesn’t run into any thieves?

A 22.50 minutes

explanation

Divide 30 by 8 to determine that the security guard takes 3.75 minutes to walk one city block. Multiply 3.75 by 6, the number of blocks it takes to complete the circuit, to arrive at 22.50, or 22.5 minutes.

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Carpet stain protector costs $0.65 per square yard to apply. How much will it cost to apply the protectant to a 16-foot x 18-foot carpet?

$20.80

To determine the number of square yards to be protected, multiply 16 feet by 18 feet to determine the number of square feet, 288. Then divide 288 by 9 to convert square feet to square yards (1 square yard = 3 feet × 3 feet = 9 square feet). Multiply the quotient, 32 square yards, by the cost of protection per square yard, $0.65, to get the correct answer, $20.80. Remember to perform all the steps in a calculation.

A winter coat is on sale for $150. If the original price was $200, what percent has the coat been discounted?

25%

The percent discounted is the amount discounted divided by the original price. The amount discounted is $200 – $150 = $50. The percent discounted is 50/200=o.25=25%.

Apples are on sale for “Buy 2 pounds get 1 pound free.” How many pounds must Janet purchase to get 2 pounds free?

4 pounds

If Janet must purchase 2 pounds of apples to get 1 free pound, to get 2 free pounds, she would need to purchase twice as many apples or 4 pounds of apples.

A taxi ride costs $3.00 for the first mile and $1.00 each additional half mile. What is the cost of a 10-mile ride?

$21

In a 10-mile trip, after the first mile, there are 9 additional miles. If each additional half mile is $1, then an additional mile is $2. The cost of the trip is $3 for the first mile + ($2 × 9) for the additional miles. $3 + $18 = $21.

An accounting-firm employee is asked to shred 900 documents. If he can shred documents at a rate of 7 per minute, the number of documents remaining after1.5 hours of shredding is:

270

At a rate of 7 documents per minute, the employee can shred 630 documents in 90 minutes. How do you come up with that number? Multiply 7 by 90 (the number of minutes in 1.5 hours). Subtract 630 from 900 total documents to determine that after 1.5 hours of shredding, 270 documents remain.

Amy wants to fence in a yard using 400 feet of fencing. If she wants the yard to be 30-feet wide, how long will it be?

170 feet

The formula used to determine the perimeter of a rectangle is P = 2(L + W). The width is 30, and the perimeter is 400. 400 = 2(L + 30).
400 = 2L + 60
340 = 2L
L = 170

An employee works 25 hours one week, 32 hours the next week, and 15 hours the week after that. In that three-week period, how many hours did she average each week?

24

Add 25 + 32 + 15 and divide by 3 to get 24.

A street vendor sells $25.70 worth of pretzels on Friday, $32.30 on Saturday, and $31.80 on Sunday. He spends a fourth of the money over the weekend. How much money does he have left?

$67.35

Add the sales amounts together: $25.70 + $32.30 + $31.80 = $89.80. Then multiply the total sales by 3/4 to determine how much money he has left: $89.80 × 0.75 = $67.35.

A treasure map is drawn to a scale of 2 inches = 3 miles. On the map, the distance between Point A and X-marks-the-spot is 9.5 inches. How many actual miles does this represent?

14¹/₄ miles

If 2 inches = 3 miles, then 1 inch equals: 3 ÷ 2 = 1.5 miles. Multiply 1¹/₂ miles × 9.5 inches to determine the actual distance: 1.5 × 9.5 = 14.25 or 14¹/₄ miles.

Bob buys 25 pads of paper, each of which contains 70 pieces of paper. What is the total number of pieces of paper that Bob purchases?

1,750

To solve this problem, you need to multiply the number of pads times the number of pieces of paper in a pad. Since 25 × 70 = 1,750, this is the total number of sheets of paper that he bought.

Darla spent $120.37 on groceries in January, $108.45 in February, and $114.86 in March. What was the average monthly cost of Darla’s groceries?

$114.56

Add the three monthly amounts to determine the total amount Darla spent on groceries: $120.37 + $108.45 + $114.86 = $343.68. Divide the total by 3 to determine the average monthly cost: $114.56.

Alice leaves her house, driving east at 45 miles per hour (mph). Thirty minutes later, her husband Dave notices she forgot her cell phone and sets off after her. How fast must Dave travel in order to catch up with Alice 3 hours after he leaves?

52.5 mph

By the time Dave leaves, Alice has already been traveling for half an hour. Three hours later, she would’ve been traveling for 3.5 hours at 45 mph, or 157.5 miles. In order to travel 157.5 miles in 3 hours, Dave would have to travel at 52.5 mph (divide 157.5 by 3).

A television is on sale for 20% off. If the sale price is $800, what was the original price?

$1,000

If an item is discounted 20%, the sale price is 80% of the original price. Let p represent the original price. Then $800 = 80% × p and p = 800/80%=800/.80=$1,000.

An appliance originally costing $1,000 goes on sale one week for 25% off. The following week, it is discounted an additional 10%. What is the new sale price of the appliance?

$675

The discounted amount after the first week is $1,000 × 25% = $250, so the sale price is $1,000 – $250 = $750. The discounted amount after the second week is $750 × 10% = $75, so the sale price is $750 – $75 = $675.