S1/MATH/CH2/WS1/SOL

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
HKUGA COLLEGE

S1 – MATHEMATICS
– Ch2 Using Algebra to Solve Problems (I) WS1

NAME:________________________________CLASS:______________________( )

A Transforming between word problems and algebraic expressions

The expressions formed by numbers, letters and operation signs

are called algebraic expressions.
Those “letters” are also called variables/ unknown.

Exercise:
1. Use algebraic expression to represent the following WITHOUT using “  ” and “  ”:
(a) Subtract 3 from the product of 4 and x. 4x – 3
(b) Multiply the sum of x and y by 9. 9(x + y)

(c) Divide the sum of a and b by 4c. ab

4c

(d) Divide the difference between 4z and 4 by x. 4z  4

x
(e) Subtract the product of 3 and c from the product of a and b. ab – 3c

(f) Divide the product of 2 and e by the product of 7 and w2. 2e

7 w2
4x  8 y
(g) Divide the sum of 4x and 8y by the sum of a and b.
ab
(h) Add the product of 4 and x2 to twice the square of y. 4x2  2 y 2

2. If there are 4y oranges in a box, how many oranges are there in 6 boxes? 24y
3. Eric and Sam have $400 in total. If Eric has $5c, how much does Sam have? $(400 – 5c)
10 x
4. If Stephen has 10x sweets and he wants to give them to y students, how many
y
sweets will each student get?
5. Raymond has $5000 in his saving account. If he takes $3x2y out from his account, $(5000 – 3x2y)
how much will be left in his account?
6. Eric is a years old, his father is 4 times as old as he is. Find the age of his father. 4a years old.

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B Identifying different kinds of terms

Exercise:
1. How many terms are there in the following algebraic expressions?
a
(a) 3a  4b 2 (b)  6 2 (c)  4  a  3y 3
8
(d) 4 y  5 k  y 3 (e)  7  a  4  mn 2 (f) pqr 2  p 2 rq 2
x
(g) 5 x  y 3 (h) d e f g h 3 (i) d e  f  g  h 3
y

2. Which of the following is a pair of like terms? Which is a pair of unlike terms?
(a)  k and  5k like (b) –2 and +6x unlike (c) +3x and –x ÷ 2 like

(d) –5y2 and 11y2 like (e) + 3b and + 10 a unlike (f) +4ab and –2a2b unlike

(g) +3 and –5 like (h) +2x and +x2 unlike  m and 2 unlike
(i) 
m
3. Complete the following table.

Algebraic expression Number of terms Like terms Constant term

(a) 4 × a – a – 6 + b 4 4a and –a –6

(b) x × x – x ÷ 3 + 8 – 5x2 4 x × x and –5x2 8

(c) p × q + 6 × q × p ÷ 5 – 3 3 p × q and + 6 × q × p ÷ 5 –3

(d) abcd + 7acd – 3dac 3 + 7acd and –3dac 0

(e) 4 × 5 – 4 × x + 3 × x × y – 7y + y × x 5 + 3xy and + xy 20

6 y –2
– and + 6y
2
(f) 2 – y ÷ 2 – 2d + 6y – d ÷ 4 – 4
d
– 2d and –
4

C Simplifying algebraic expressions by combining like terms

Exercise:
Level 1
1. Simplify the following and arrange the terms in descending order of their indices:
1. (a) 2s + 5s = 7s
(b) 12q – 8q = 4q
(c) 4d – 16d = –12d
(d) 4a + 3a – a = 6a
(e) 12c – 3c – 9c = 0
(f) 14r – 7r – 8r = –r
(g) 4r – 2r + 12s + s = 2r + 14s
(h) 3x – 5x – 2y + 4y = – 2x + 4y
(i) 5r – 3q – 2r + 2q = 3r – 2q

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(j) 3x – 12x + x – 4t + 3x = – 5x – 4t
(k) 4u – 14v + 8v – 6u – 4u = –6u – 6v
(l) 14 + 3z – 3g + 12 – 4g = 26 + 3z – 7g
(m) 4t3 – 21t2 + 6t3 + t2 = 10 t3 – 20 t2
(n) x3 + 2x2 – 4x + 4x3 – x2 + 6x = 5x3 + x2 + 2x
(o) –5c3 + 3c2 – c + 5c + 8c2 – 8c3 = –13c3 + 11c2 + 4c
(p) 8 + d2 – 4d + d3 – 7d2 – 8d3 = – 7d3 – 6d2– 4d + 8
(q) –14 + 22e3 – 11e2 + 5e2 – 30e3 + 17 + 6e2 = – 8e3 + 3

Level 2
2. Simplify the following expressions.
(a) x  3x  5 y  7 y  4z  2 z = 4 x  2 y  6 z
(b) 2 p  3m  8m  4n  5n  6 p =  4 p  5m  9n
(c) 3a  2b  5c  2a  3b  4c = abc
(d)  6  4 p  7q  3  10q  8 p = 4 p  3q  9
(e) x7 y  4y  x 2 = 15xy

 8a
(f) 2a  6  b  a  9  3b 
3b
(g) 6m  3n  5  m  8n  4 = 5m  n  5
(h)  9 p  3q  2  4 p  6q  p =  3q

(i) u  2u  2u  6u 2  5u = 8u 2  7u

(j)  s  t  s  6t  s 2  2 = 2s 2t
6c
(k) 12 c  3d  10  5d  c =
d
(l) 4r  r  2  3s  7r  6s  3 = 4s  3r 2
2

b 3b 6b
(m)   = 2b
5 5 5
c 5c 5c
(n) c  =
6 6 3d

3. x is the largest among three consecutive numbers. Express their sum in terms of x and simplify the
answer.
The sum of the three consecutive numbers = x + (x – 1) + (x – 2)
= 3x – 3

4. 2n + 1 is the smallest among three consecutive odd numbers. Express their sum in terms of n and
simplify the answer.
The sum of the three consecutive numbers = (2n + 1) + (2n + 3) + (2n + 5)
= 6n + 9

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5. In the English premier league, a team will get 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, no point for a loss.
In this season, Manchester United has 3 times as many draws as losses and 9 times as many wins as
losses. Write an algebraic expression to show the total points of Manchester United this season if
(a) x is the number of losses;
(b) y is the number of draws.

(a) Manchester United had x losses, 3x draws and 9x wins.

The total points of Manchester United this season
= (x)(0) + (3x)(1) + (9x)(3)
= 0 + 3x + 27x
= 30 x points

y  y
(b) Manchester United had y draws, losses and  (9)  3 y wins.
3 3
The total points of Manchester United this season
y
=( )(0) + (y)(1) + (3y)(3)
3
= 0 + y + 9y
= 10y points

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