Add, subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers: word problems

key notes :-

1. Understanding Word Problems

  • Word problems are math problems written in sentences, where students need to interpret the text and translate it into mathematical operations.
  • Look for keywords in the problem to identify the operation needed:
    • Addition: “total,” “sum,” “together,” “combined”
    • Subtraction: “difference,” “left,” “remain,” “how many more”
    • Multiplication: “times,” “each,” “in total,” “per”
    • Division: “divided by,” “each,” “grouped,” “shared”

2. Addition Word Problems

  • Focus on combining two or more quantities.
  • Example: “Sarah has 15 apples, and her friend gave her 9 more. How many apples does she have now?”
    • Solution: 15 + 9 = 24 apples.

3. Subtraction Word Problems

  • Focus on finding the difference or what remains after something is taken away.
  • Example: “Tom had 20 pencils. He gave 8 pencils to his friend. How many pencils does Tom have now?”
    • Solution: 20 – 8 = 12 pencils.

4. Multiplication Word Problems

  • Focus on repeated addition or grouping.
  • Example: “A teacher has 4 boxes of markers. Each box has 6 markers. How many markers are there in total?”
    • Solution: 4 × 6 = 24 markers.

5. Division Word Problems

  • Focus on sharing or grouping items evenly.
  • Example: “There are 24 cookies. If 6 friends share the cookies equally, how many cookies does each friend get?”
    • Solution: 24 ÷ 6 = 4 cookies per friend.

Learn with an example

📖 A multi-national company has 910 part-time employees and 22,535 full-time employees.

How many employees work for the company?

​ _______employees

  • Add the number of part-time employees and the number of full-time employees.
  • Add the ones. Add 5 + 0.
  • Add the tens. Add 3 + 1.
  • Add the hundreds. Add 5 + 9. Remember to carry over.
  • Add the ten thousands. Bring down the 2.
  • The sum is 23,445. A total of 23,445 employees work for the company.

📖 The school party committee has ₹152 to buy ice cream. If each carton of ice cream costs ₹8.

How many cartons can the committee buy?

​ ______cartons

  • Divide the amount of money by the cost of each carton of ice cream.
  • The committee can buy 19 cartons.

📖 A basketball league wants to order 90 T-shirts for the teams. If there are 3 T-shirts in each package.

How many packages of T-shirts should the league order?

​________ packages

  • Divide the number of T-shirts by the number in each package.
  • The league should order 30 packages of T-shirts.

Let’s practice! 🖊️