Outline Mathematics
Arithmetic Word Problems

A Planeload

Here's a problem to tackle:

How many people can the largest plane carry?

A clue: if the plane was full, had a crew of 20 people, and 140 passengers with window seats, then there were 406 passengers who did not get window seats.

Solution

Solution

How many people can the largest plane carry?

A clue: if the plane was full, had a crew of 20 people, and 140 passengers with window seats, then there were 406 passengers who did not get window seats.

(In the text below, some words are omitted. These have been underlined. Click just above the line. See what happens.)

Look, we have three categories of people: the crew, the passengers with the window seats and the unlucky ones sitting away from the windows. All are inside the plane and all are being carried by the plane. Since the plane is full,in flight,empty,big,full, the maximum number of people,seats,people,cattle the plane can carry is the sum total of the quantities in the three,two,three,four categories:

Crew:		20
Window seats:		140
Inner seats:		406

What is the total? Well, 140 + 406 = 546,546,564,566,446. And 546 + 20 = 566,546,566,564,446. Quite a crowd.

References

E. Charlesworth, 225 Fantastic Facts Math Word Problems, Scholastic, 2001

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Outline Mathematics Arithmetic Word Problems

A Planeload

Solution

References

Outline Mathematics
Arithmetic Word Problems