MHB Solving word problems using a system of equations (i'm guessing simultaneous).

Click For Summary
The discussion revolves around calculating the length of a road built with yellow and green bricks, where there are 12,000 yellow bricks and a ratio of 3 yellow bricks for every green brick. It is established that the number of green bricks is 4,000, leading to a total of 16,000 bricks. Each brick measures 500mm x 250mm, equating to 1/8 square meter, which means 8 bricks fit into one square meter. Consequently, the total area covered by the bricks is 2,000 square meters, resulting in a road length of 2,000 meters. The conversation also touches on the need for simultaneous equations to solve the problem, although some participants question the necessity of this approach.
Daps
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
you are laying the yellow and green brick road. the road is 1m wide and each brick is 500mm x 250mm. there are 3yellow bricks for every green brick. the road will be built with 12000 yellow bricks .how long will the road be?

Let x represent the no of yellow bricks
Let y represent the no of green bricks
I managed to get that x=3y-----equation 1
couldn't work equation 2 even though i could infer that y to be 4000bricks.
the 500mm x250mm brick (i'm thinking 8 of them is needed to fit into a square meter.

please can anyone enlighten me.
thanks
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
Daps said:
you are laying the yellow and green brick road. the road is 1m wide and each brick is 500mm x 250mm. there are 3yellow bricks for every green brick. the road will be built with 12000 yellow bricks .how long will the road be?

Let x represent the no of yellow bricks
Let y represent the no of green bricks
I managed to get that x=3y-----equation 1
couldn't work equation 2 even though i could infer that y to be 4000bricks.
the 500mm x250mm brick (i'm thinking 8 of them is needed to fit into a square meter.

please can anyone enlighten me.
thanks

12000 yellow + 4000 green = 16000 bricks total

8 bricks for every square meter

16000/8 = 2000 square meters = 1 meter x 2000 meters
 
skeeter, thanks for your take on this question.sorry how did you work out they are suppose to have 8 bricks to fit in 1 square meter.

secondly what are the systems of equations (probably 2 equations).needed here.

Thanks replies are welcomed from everybody.
 
given brick dimensions ...

500mm x 250mm = 0.5 m x 0.25 = 1/2 m x 1/4 m = 1/8 square meter

8 bricks x 1/8 square meter per brick = 1 square metersimultaneous equations? why make it more difficult?
 

Thread 'Area of Overlapping Squares'

Here is a little puzzle from the book 100 Geometric Games by Pierre Berloquin. The side of a small square is one meter long and the side of a larger square one and a half meters long. One vertex of the large square is at the center of the small square. The side of the large square cuts two sides of the small square into one- third parts and two-thirds parts. What is the area where the squares overlap?
View full post »

Similar threads

Can you solve this system of simultaneous equations?
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
MHB Solving a Simultaneous Equation Problem
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
MHB Standard formula for solving simultaneous equations of the form ax + by + c = 0
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
MHB Unsolvable Simultaneous Equations: A Mathematician's Dilemma
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
3K
MHB Solving System of Equations with x,y,z in [0,pi/2)
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
MHB Solving Simultaneous Equations: x⁴-y²-xy=4-√15, x³+y³-3x=5√5
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
How should I solve this Diophantine equation word problem?
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
MHB Solving quadratic equation problem
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
MHB Solve System Problem: x^4+y^4=8^2 & x-y=2
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
MHB Solve Simultaneous Equations: No/1/Inf Solns?
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K