Basic Math Problem

[riosbeltran]

How would you work out this problem using basic math, and please write why of each arithmetical choice as you do it. Would really appreciate the different methods.

Isabel owns a coffee shop. At the end of a day, she had 10.5 pounds of her house blend. During that day, she had sold 6.25 pounds of the blend and had made 3.5 pounds of the blend. How much of the house blend did Isabel have at the start of the day?

 

[ksdhart]

My method of solving is two-fold. To get a feel for the problem, I'd work it forward. Let's say Isabel starts the day with 20 pounds of coffee. She then sells 6.25 pounds of coffee. How much does she have left? What arithmetic operation did you use to figure that out? Then she makes 3.5 pounds of coffee. How much does she have left? What arithmetic operation did you use?

So, now that you've (hopefully) got a feel for the process, try working it backwards. From the problem, you know that Isabel ended the day with 10.5 pounds of coffee. During the day, she sold 6.25 pounds. That's coffee that she doesn't have at the end of the day, but she used to have, at the start of the day. So, what arithmetic operation would you use to reflect this change? And you're also told that she made 3.5 pounds of coffee during the day. That's coffee that she has at the end of the day, but didn't have at the start of the day. So, what arithmetic operation would you use to reflect this change?

 

[stapel]

How would you work out this problem using basic math, and please write why of each arithmetical choice as you do it. Would really appreciate the different methods.

So that we don't waste your time with repeats, please reply showing all of the methods you've used so far. Thank you!

 

[ryantzb]

How would you work out this problem using basic math, and please write why of each arithmetical choice as you do it. Would really appreciate the different methods.

Isabel owns a coffee shop. At the end of a day, she had 10.5 pounds of her house blend. During that day, she had sold 6.25 pounds of the blend and had made 3.5 pounds of the blend. How much of the house blend did Isabel have at the start of the day?

Clues : Start of the day (At first)
Sold - 6.25
Made - 3.5
End of day - 10.5

1) So based on the clues we have, we know she is left with 10.5 pounds of her house blend.

10.5

2) She made 3.5 pounds earlier this morning. What does that mean? We plus

10.5 + 3.5

3) She sold 6.25 earlier this morning. What does that mean? We plus again so as to find out how much she had earlier that day

14 + 6.25

4) Check the clues for any missed out information

5) If everything is correct, the answer is

20.25 pounds

 

[Mrspi]

A

How would you work out this problem using basic math, and please write why of each arithmetical choice as you do it. Would really appreciate the different methods.

Isabel owns a coffee shop. At the end of a day, she had 10.5 pounds of her house blend. During that day, she had sold 6.25 pounds of the blend and had made 3.5 pounds of the blend. How much of the house blend did Isabel have at the start of the day?

She started the day with some UNKNOWN quantity of her house blend.....let's call this amount A.

She sold 6.25 pounds during the day, so that would leave her with A - 6.25 pounds.

She also MADE 3.5 pounds more of the blend during the day, which would ADD to her stock on hand.

We could describe this situation in words:

what she started with minus the amount she sold, plus the amount she made, should equal what she had at the end of the day.

A - 6.25 + 3.5 = 10.5


Can you solve that for A?