34 alGebra De mystif ieD

3.^1
1

19

15

5

4

19

15

4

5

76

75

1

154

41

(^1915)
45
==÷= ⋅= = 751

4.^5
33

11

2

3 11

2

1

3

11

6

1

(^121125)
==÷= ⋅= = 6

5.^25
2

1

2

5

2

2

1

10

2

5

21

(^12)
(^52)
= =÷= 12 ⋅= =
Recognizing Quantities and Relationships in Word Problems
Success in solving word problems depends on the mastery of three skills—
“translating” English into mathematics, setting the variable equal to an appro-
priate unknown quantity, and using knowledge of mathematics to solve the
equation or inequality. This book will help you develop these skills.
TABLE 11
English Mathematical Symbol
“Is,” “are,” “will be” (any form of the verb
“to be”) mean “equal”

“More than,” “increased by,” “sum of ”
mean “add”

• “Less than,” “decreased by,” “difference
  of” mean “subtract”

“Of ” means “multiply” ·

“Per” means “divide” ÷

“More than” and “greater than” both mean

the relation “greater than” although “more

than” can mean “add”

>

“Less than,” means the relation “less than”

although it can also mean “subtract”

<

“At least,” and “no less than,” mean the

relation “greater than or equal to”

≥

“No more than,” and “at most,” mean the

relation “less than or equal to”

≤