Algebra I All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 23

Measuring Up with Quality and Quantity Story Problems

IN THIS CHAPTER

Making the most of mixtures

Understanding the strength of a solution

Keeping track of money in piggy banks and interest problems

The story problems in this chapter have a common theme to them: they deal with quality (the strength or worth of an item) and quantity (the measure or count), and adding up to a total amount. (Chapters 21, 22, and 23 have other types of story problems.) You encounter quality and quantity problems almost on a daily basis. For instance, if you have four dimes, you know that you have 40 cents. How do you know? You multiply the quantity, four dimes, times the quality, ten cents each, to get the total amount of money. And if you have a fruit drink that’s 50 percent real juice, then a gallon contains one-half gallon of real juice (and the rest is who-knows-what) — again, multiplying quality times quantity.

In this chapter, take time to practice with these story problems. Just multiply the amount of something, the quantity, times the strength or worth of it, quality, in order to solve for the total value.

Achieving the Right Blend with Mixture Problems

Mixture problems can take ...