Tips for Solving Algebra Word Problems

Many people have trouble with Algebra for various reasons. Perhaps the teacher isn’t doing a great job explaining concepts, the textbook is not so great or the student is not doing enough practice. Algebra is quite easy once you get the hang of it.

In order to master algebra, you need to have a really good book or a few good books. There are also many resources online that can help you with topics you need extra help with. It is important to do a lot of practice immediately after learning a concept until the problems become easy for you to do.

Word problems, especially, seem to give a lot of students a hard time. Here are some tips on how to tackle them. Re-read the question as many times as you need to in order to understand exactly what you need to solve for and the best way to approach the problem. When you figure those out, assign the unknown or what you are trying to solve for to a variable such as x. Next you need to form algebraic expressions or equations using the information that is given, as well as your variable or variables. With the equations you can then solve for your variables using elimination, substitution, formulas and other solving methods in algebra.

Here are some examples of statements in algebra and how to convert them into an algebraic expression.

John is twice as old as Mary can be written as y=2x where y is John’s age and x is Mary’s age. Two consecutive integers can be written as x and x+1. Two consecutive even integers can be written as x and x+2 as long as x is an even number. If the sum of two numbers are 51 then the two numbers are x and 51-x. If x is a number then five more than twice a number is 2x+5.

You also need to be aware of units of measure. Make sure all the units match. For example, if you are given three numbers, two in inches and one in feet, you must covert the one in feet into inches before you can use all three numbers together to solve the unknown. A common word problem that involves converting units of measure is the coin problem. For example, Mary has several coins in her pocket including dimes, nickels, and quarters. She has three more quarters than nickels and twice as many nickels as dimes. Let’s say she has a total of $2.15.

The first thing to do is to figure out which type of coin she has the least amount of. In this case she has less dimes than nickels and quarters so let x be dimes. Since she has twice as many nickels as dimes, nickels are 2x. Since she has three more quarters than nickels and we know nickels are 2x, quarters are 2x+3. Notice we wrote quarters and nickels in terms of dimes so we can use just one variable. Now we need to convert the expressions into cents. To convert a dime into cents you multiply by 10. So we have 10x. To convert nickels into cents you multiply by 5. We have 5(2x). To convert quarters to cents multiply by 25. So we have 25(2x+3). To covert $2.15 to cents multiply by 100 to get 215 cents. Add these three expressions, set them equal to 215 and solve for x. You should get x= 2. This means she has 2 dimes, 4 nickels and 7 quarters.

In a nutshell, when given a word problem, re-read it until you fully understand what it implies. Assign a variable(s) to the unknown. Convert the statements into algebraic expressions or equations and use them to solve for the unknown. With plenty of practice you’ll become proficient at solving algebra word problems.

Serena william penalty loses match

New York: Kim Clijsters reached the US Open final after beating defending champion Serena Williams 6-4 7-5 Saturday in a contest that ended in chaos after the American was handed a point penalty on match point.

With the Belgian on the brink of victory, second seed Williams was called for a foot-fault on a second serve to go match point down. An angry Williams argued with the lineswoman who reported her for verbal abuse.

Having already received a warning earlier in the match for smashing a racket, Williams was handed an automatic point penalty for a second violation which gave Clijsters the match.


"It was not a default, it was a point penalty that happened to be on match point. She had had an earlier warning for racket abuse,"tournament referee Brian Earley told reporters.

"She was called for a foot fault... and she said something to a line umpire and it was reported to the chair and that resulted in a point penalty."

Early would not go into what Williams said, adding only: "It was a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct."

Serving at 5-6 15-30 down in the second set, Williams launched into her second serve only for the lineswoman at the baseline to call her for a foot-fault.

Incensed by the verdict, a fired up Williams marched up to the official, and waving her racket threateningly, she argued with her for making the call at such a crucial moment as the double fault gave Clijsters match point.

The woman walked straight to the umpire, who summoned Earley on to court as jeers started to ring around a half-filled Arthur Ashe Stadium.

With Williams joining the group at the bottom of the umpire's chair, she was heard telling the lineswoman: "I never said I would kill you, are you serious?"

After consulting Earley, the umpire announced Williams had been given a point penalty and awarded the match to Clijsters, who stood on the other side of the net looking bewildered.

"I was just trying to be focussed for the match point. As I started to get ready for the return I saw Serena talking to the lineswoman over there," Clijsters said in a courtside interview.

"I was obviously too far away to hear what was going on so I can't really comment on that."

The Belgian, playing in only her third tournament after taking a two-year break to start a family, became the first mother to reach a grand slam final since Evonne Goolagong achieved the feat at Wimbledon in 1980.

In Sunday's final, Clijsters will face Danish teen-ager Caroline Wozniacki, who defeated unseeded and error-prone Belgian Yanina Wickmayer 6-3 6-3 in the other semi-final.

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