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How Do You Solve a Word Problem with an Equation Using Multiplication?

Will just finished his 12th homework problem and became very sad when realized he had only one fifth of the problems done. How many problems was Will assigned?

Summary

  1. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
  2. We translated our word problem into an equation, 'p/5 = 12'
  3. Multiplying both sides by '5' will cancel out the '1/5' and give us 'p' by itself
  4. '60/5' does equal '12', so our answer of 'p=60' is correct
  5. Will was originally assigned 60 problems

Notes

    1. Look back at the word problem to see what can be expressed through a variable
    1. We're creating the variable 'p' since we don't know how many problems Will was originally assigned
    1. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
    1. (1/5)•(problems assigned) = 12
    1. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
    2. So (1/5)•(problems assigned) = 12 can be rewritten as (1/5)•(p) = 12, or simply p/5 = 12 since p•1 = p
    1. (1/5)•p = ((1•p)/5) = (p/5)
    2. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
    1. p/5 = problems finished = 12
    2. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
    1. We translated our word problem into an equation, 'p/5 = 12'
    1. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
    1. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
    1. We're trying to solve for 'p'
    2. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
    3. 5•(1/5) = 1
    1. 5•(1/5) = 1
    2. We're trying to solve for 'p'
    3. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
    1. Remember, 'p' is on the left of the equal sign
    2. We're trying to solve for 'p'
    3. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
    1. We still need to figure out what the units of '60' are
    2. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
    1. Remember, our answer was 'p = 60'
    2. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
    1. Remember, our answer was 'p = 60'
    2. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned
    3. Our original equation was 'p/5 = 12'
    1. 60/5=12
    1. Both sides of the equation are 12, this means we did everything right!
    1. Both sides of the equation are 12, this means we did everything right!
    2. 'p' is a variable representing the total number of problems that Will was originally assigned