Maths word problem: "Simon went on a road trip for 4 days...."

Chutney

New member
Joined
Dec 15, 2018
Messages
8
Hello,

Please can someone assist. I am trying to help my 10 years old with his Maths homework.

First question is:

Simon went on a road trip for 4 days.

Over the first two days he drove a total of 112 km. He drove 6 km more on the second day than he did on the first day. How much km did he drive on the first day?

Second question is:

On the third and fourth day, Simon drove a total of 165 km. He drove four times as much on the third day as he did on the fourth day. How much km did he travel on the fourth day?

Thank you for your help.
 
Hello,

Please can someone assist. I am trying to help my 10 years old with his Maths homework.

First question is:

Simon went on a road trip for 4 days.

Over the first two days he drove a total of 112 km. He drove 6 km more on the second day than he did on the first day. How much km did he drive on the first day?

Second question is:

On the third and fourth day, Simon drove a total of 165 km. He drove four times as much on the third day as he did on the fourth day. How much km did he travel on the fourth day?

Thank you for your help.
Which grade does your son attend? Moe relevant - what topic of mathematics produced this problem? Did he start algebra yet?
 
Hello,

Please can someone assist. I am trying to help my 10 years old with his Maths homework.

First question is:

Simon went on a road trip for 4 days.

Over the first two days he drove a total of 112 km. He drove 6 km more on the second day than he did on the first day. How much km did he drive on the first day?

Second question is:

On the third and fourth day, Simon drove a total of 165 km. He drove four times as much on the third day as he did on the fourth day. How much km did he travel on the fourth day?

Thank you for your help.
I don't think this is meant to be done algebraically (for a 10 year old). I think it's just a good exercise in playing around with numbers.

For the first one:

Basically you need to find 2 numbers which add up to 112, with the second number being 6 more than the first.

So thinking might start like this:

1 and 111 - too far apart, a difference of 110 not 6
2 and 110 - still too far apart (108)
3 and 109 - still too far apart (106), need to skip a few and get somewhere near the middle of 112
112/2 =56
So,
56 and 56 - not far enough apart (0)
55 and 57 - still not far enough (2), but getting closer to a difference of 6, ….etc … nearly there

The second one can be done in a similar way.
 
Hello,

Please can someone assist. I am trying to help my 10 years old with his Maths homework.

First question is:

Simon went on a road trip for 4 days.

Over the first two days he drove a total of 112 km. He drove 6 km more on the second day than he did on the first day. How much km did he drive on the first day?

Second question is:

On the third and fourth day, Simon drove a total of 165 km. He drove four times as much on the third day as he did on the fourth day. How much km did he travel on the fourth day?

Thank you for your help.
1st problem) If you subtract 6 from 112, then the rest can be split in half. So then one will have 6 more than the other. Check out this video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=_i_yixI363o

2nd problem) One person gets 4 times the other. That is for every 4 miles one drives the other drives 1 miles. This is a group of 5 miles. Just figure out how many times 5 goes into 165.
 
Last edited:
Hello,

Please can someone assist. I am trying to help my 10 years old with his Maths homework.

First question is:

Simon went on a road trip for 4 days.

Over the first two days he drove a total of 112 km. He drove 6 km more on the second day than he did on the first day. How much km did he drive on the first day?

Second question is:

On the third and fourth day, Simon drove a total of 165 km. He drove four times as much on the third day as he did on the fourth day. How much km did he travel on the fourth day?

Thank you for your help.

It will be helpful if you can pass on to us what methods he has used recently in class. Assuming he is not yet learning algebra proper (though this can be solved with only very basic algebra), one commonly taught technique for solving this sort of problem is to draw strips representing the numbers:

Code:
[FONT=courier new]+----------+-------------+
|          |          :  |
+----------+-------------+[/FONT]

The second strip is 6 more than the first; the total length is 112. How can you find how long the first strip is?

The method turns out to be algebra in disguise, which is part of the reason this method is taught in preparation for algebra.
 
Simon went on a road trip for 4 days.

1. Over the first two days he drove a total of 112 km. He drove 6 km more on the second day than he did on the first day. How much km did he drive on the first day?
Subtract the overage from the second day. Divide what's left by two. This is his first day's drive.

2. On the third and fourth day, Simon drove a total of 165 km. He drove four times as much on the third day as he did on the fourth day. How much km did he travel on the fourth day?
He drove one length on the third day. He drove four of those lengths on the fourth day. This makes five of those lengths. Divide 165 by five to find that length for the third day. Then multiply by four to get the four times of the length that he drove on the fourth day. ;)
 
1st problem) If you subtract 6 from 112, then the rest can be split in half. So then one will have 6 more than the other. Check out this video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=_i_yixI363o

2nd problem) One person gets 4 times the other. That is for every 4 miles one drives the other drives 1 miles. This is a group of 5 miles. Just figure out how many times 5 goes into 165.


Thank you very much. This is has been a huge help.
 
Subtract the overage from the second day. Divide what's left by two. This is his first day's drive.


He drove one length on the third day. He drove four of those lengths on the fourth day. This makes five of those lengths. Divide 165 by five to find that length for the third day. Then multiply by four to get the four times of the length that he drove on the fourth day. ;)


Thank you for your help.
The school only provided an answer for parents but not a solution.
This is helped me break it down to my son. Many thanks.
 
Top