APPLICATIONS INVOLVING LINEAR EQUATION

Problem 1:

Earl wins $24,000 and he decided to invest the money in two different investments: one
paying 18% and the other paying 12%. A year later he have $27, 480 total. How much did he
originally invest in each account?

Solution:

Investment Principal Rate Time (Year) Interest
18% Account x 0.18 1 0.18 x
12% Account 24, 000 - x 0.12 1 0.12 (24, 000 x)













Problem 2:

For a certain experiment, Estevan requires 100 ml of a solution that is 11% HCl
(hydrochloric acid). The storeroom has only solutions that are 5% HCl and 15% HCl. How many
milliliters of each available solution should be mixed to get 100 ml of 11% HC1?

Solution:

5% HCl (x) 15% HCl (y) = 100 or x + y = 100
x = 100 y







40
60 100
100
=
=
=
x
x
y x

Answer: 40 ml of 5% HCl and 60 ml of 15% HCl

18% Account:

000 , 10
600
0.06
0.06x
2,880 - 3,480 = 0.06x
3,480 = 0.12x - 2,880 + 0.18x
24,000 - 27,480 = x) - (24,000 0.12 + 0.18x
=
=
x

12% Account:

000 , 14
000 , 10 000 , 24
=


Answer: $10,000 is invested at 18% and $14,000 is invested at 12%.
60
1 . 0
6
1 . 0
1 . 0
5 11 1 . 0
11 15 . 0 05 . 0 5
) 11 . 0 ( 100 15 . 0 ) 100 ( 05 . 0
=
=
=
= +
= +
y
y
y
y y
y y

Problem 3:

Cirilo washes and vacuum his car in 60 minutes, but if Adrian helps him, the job is
completed in 30 minutes. How long would it take Adrian to wash and vacuum the car by
himself?

Solution:

Amount of time to do one job Amount of job done per unit of time
Cirilo 60

Adrian x

Together 30

60
) ( 60 ) (
60 2
2 60
60
30
1 1
60
1
30
1 1
60
1
=
=
=
= +
|
.
|
= +

\
|
= +
x
x
x x
x x
x
x
x

Checking:
2 2
2 1 1
60
30
1
60
1
60
1
30
1
60
1
60
1
=
= +
|
.
|
= +

\
|
= +


Answer: 60 minutes