SOLVING PROBLEMS INVOLVING QUADRATIC EQUATIONS: 7.

The speed of an ant is (2t + 10) and after travelling for t

1. The sum of squares of two consecutive even numbers is minutes, it covers a distance of 12m. Find t.
244. Find the numbers. Ans. 1
Ans. 10, 12
8. Two chords and a diameter form a triangle inside a circle.
2. The base length of a triangle is 2cm more than its height. The radius is 5cm and one chord is 2cm longer than the
The area is 24cm2. Find the length of hypotenuse and the other one. Find the perimeter and the area of the triangle.
perimeter of the triangle. Ans. 24cm, 24cm2
Ans. 10cm, 24cm
9. The sum of a number and it reciprocal is 26/5. Find the
3. The length of a square is increased by a 5th so that its new number.
area is 44cm2 more than the original value. Find the Ans. 5
difference in perimeter of two shapes.
Ans. 8cm 10. The product of two numbers is 20. The sum of squares is
41. Find the numbers.
4. The length and width of a rectangular garden are 150m and Ans. 5 and 4
120m. A foot path of regular width is added to the
boundary of the garden and the total area of the garden 11. The dimensions of the glass plate of a wedding photo are
becomes 2800m2 more than its original area. Find the 18cm and 12cm respectively. A new frame of equal width is
width of the footpath. about to be fitted around the glass so that the area of the
Ans. 5m frame is the same as that of the glass. Find the width of the
frame.
5. Adam is about to embark on a journey on a narrow country Ans. 3cm
lane that covers 32km and decides to go at x km/h. On
second thoughts, he calculates that if he increases the speed 12. A group of acquaints went to a restaurants for a meal.
by 4km/h, his journey time can be cut down by 4 hrs. Find When the bill for £175 was brought by a waiter, two of the
x. cheeky ones from the group just sneaked off before the bill
Ans. 4km/h was paid, which resulted in the payment of extra £10 by
each remaining individual. How many were in the group at
6. The reciprocal of the sum of reciprocals of two numbers is first?
6. The sum of numbers is 25. Find the numbers. Ans. 7
Ans. 10, 15
13. Ashwin and Donald decided to set out from two towns on Ans. 21 and 25
their bikes, which are 247 miles apart, connected by a
straight Roman road in England. When they finally met up 19. The height of a triangle is 4cm less than three times its base
somewhere between the two towns, Ashwin had been length. If the area is 80 cm2, find the lengths of the base and
cycling for 9 miles a day. The number of days for the whole height.
adventure is 3 more than the number of miles that Donald Ans. 8cm, 20cm
had been cycling in a day. How many miles did each cycle?
Ans. 117 and 130 miles 20. An isosceles triangle is inscribed in a circle in such a way
that its longest side, which goes through the center is
14. When a two-digit number is divided by the product of the √50cm. Find the area of the triangle.
two digits, the answer is 2 and if 27 is added to the number, Ans. 12.5cm2
the original number turns into a new number with the
digits being swapped around. Find the number. 21. A butcher bought some pheasants for £100.00. Had each
Ans. 36 cost £1 less, he would have bought 5 more. How many
pheasants did he buy?
15. There are three numbers: the difference of the differences Ans. 20
of them is 5. The sum and product are 44 and 1950
respectively. Find the numbers. 22. The sum of reciprocals of two consecutive integers is
Ans. 6, 13, 25 13/42. Find the integers.
Ans. 6, 7
16. Find the two numbers, whose sum is 19 and the product of
the difference and the greater, is 60. 23. The product of two numbers and the difference between
Ans. 12,7 them are 289 and 20 respectively. Find the numbers.
Ans. 27, 7
17. A boy was asked his age: "If you add the square root of it to
half of it, and then subtract 12, the answer will be nothing," 24. The sum of two numbers is 20. The sum of squares is 250.
replied the boy. What was his age? Find the numbers.
Ans. 16 Ans. 15, 5

18. A group of army cadets, consisting of 1066 men, form two 25. The area of a square exceeds twice that of another by
squares in front of a garrison. In the side of one square, 56cm2. If the difference of the perimeter between the two
there are 4 more men than the other. How many men are in is 24cm, find the area of the smaller square.
each side of the squares? Ans. 100 or 4
1. The sum of two numbers is 27 and their product is 50. Find x = 3;
the numbers. Area = 1/2 x 3 x 4 = 6cm2
Let one number be x. Then the other number is 50/x.
x + 50/x = 27 4. The product of two numbers is 24 and the mean is 5. Find
X x  x2 + 50 = 27x the numbers.
- 27x  x2 - 27x + 50 = 0 Let one number = x; then the other = 24/x
(x -25)(x -2) = 0 (x + 24/x)/2 = 5
(x -25) = 0 or (x -2) = 0 X 2 => x + 24/x = 10
x = 25 or x = 2. X x => x2 + 24 = 10x
- 10x => x2 + -10x + 24 = 0
2. The length of a rectangle is 5 cm more than its width and (x - 6)(x -4) = 0
the area is 50cm2. Find the length, width and the perimeter. (x - 6) = 0 or (x -4) = 0
Let the width be x. Then the length = x + 5. x = 6 or x =4
x(x + 5) = 50 The numbers are 6 or 4.
x2 + 5x = 50
-50  x2 + 5x - 50 = 0 5. The sum of numbers is 9. The squares of the numbers is 41.
(x + 10)(x -5) = 0 Find the numbers.
(x + 10) = 0 or (x -5) = 0 These are quadratic simultaneous equations.
x = -10 or x = 5 - x = -10 is impossible to be a width let the numbers be x and y.
Width = 5cm; so, the length = 10cm. x+y=9
Perimeter = 30cm. x2 + y2 = 41
From the first equation, y = (9-x)
3. The three sides of a right-angled triangle are x, x+1 and 5. Now substitute this in the second equation.
Find x and the area, if the longest side is 5. x2 + (9-x)2 = 41
The hypotenuse = 5 x2 + 81 - 18x + x2 = 41
x2 + (x+1)2 = 52 (Pythagoras' Theorem) 2x2 - 16x + 81 = 41
x2 + x2 + 2x + 1 = 25 2x2 - 16x + 40 = 0
-25  x2 + x2 + 2x - 24 = 0 x2 - 8x + 20 = 0
2x2 + 2x - 24 = 0 (x - 5)(x -4) =0
x2 + x - 12 = 0 (x - 5) = 0 or (x -4) =0
(x - 3)(x + 4) = 0 x = 5 or x = 4
(x + 4) = 0 or (x - 3) = 0 Substitute in the first equation, y = 5 or 4
x = -4 or x = 3 The numbers are 5 and 4.
 a) h = -16t2 + 64t + 80
6. A ball is thrown upwards from a rooftop, 80m above the h = -16* 1*1 + 64*1 + 80 = 128m
ground. It will reach a maximum vertical height and then b) Rearrange by the completing the square, we get:
fall back to the ground. The height of the ball from the h = -16[t2 - 4t - 5]
ground at time t is h, which is given by, h = -16[(t - 2)2 - 9]
h = -16t2 + 64t + 80. h = -16(t - 2)2 + 144
When the height is maximum, t = 2; therefore,
a) What is the height reached by the ball after 1 maximum height = 144m.
second? c) When the ball hits the ground, h = 0;
b) What is the maximum height reached by the ball? -16t2 + 64t + 80 = 0
c) How long will it take before hitting the ground? Divide the equation by -16
t2 - 4t - 5 = 0
Follow the graph along with the calculation for a better (t - 5)(t + 1) = 0
understanding: t = 5 or t = -1
The time cannot be negative; so, the time = 5 seconds.

7. A farmer wants to make a rectangular pen for his sheep. He

has 60m fencing material to cover three sides with the
other side being a brick wall. How should he use the fencing
material to maximize the space for his sheep? How should
he choose length and width of the pen to achieve his
objective?

He just has to cover three sides; let the width be x.

Then the length = (60-2x)
Area of the pen = x(60-2x)
= 60x -2x2

Now let's sketch a graph for the quadratic equation. Which

is as follows:
 x = 25 ±√(625 - 600) / 2
x = 25 ±√(25) / 2
x = (25 ± 5 )/ 2
x = 15 or x = 10
So, the resistors are 15 Ohms or 10 Ohms.

9. The following picture shows the shape of a certain grass

patch. If the area of the patch is 80m2, find k.

As you can see, the curve peaks at x = 15; when the width
= 15m, the area is maximum. A very useful way to use
quadratic equations in real life, indeed!

8. Two resistors, when connected in series, have a total

resistance of 25 Ohms. If they are connected in parallel, the
value goes down to 6 Ohms. Find the values.

When they are in series, if one resistor is x, then the other is The total area = 5k + k(2k+1)
25-x = 5k + 2k2 + k
When they are in parallel, 1/6 = 1/x + 1/(25-x) = 2k2 + 6k
1/6 = 25/[x(25-x)] = 25/[25x - x2] Since the area is 80m2
25x - x2 = 150 2k2 + 6k = 80
If ax2 + bx + c = 0, then 2k2 + 6k - 80 = 0
x = [-b ±√(b2 - 4ac) ]/ 2a (2k - 10)(k + 8) = 0
x2 - 25x + 150 = 0 k = 5 or k = -8
a = 1; b = -25; c = 150 Since the length cannot be negative, k = 5.
x = -(-25) ±√((-25)2 - 4(1)(150)) / 2(1)
10. The following picture shows the shape of a rectangle from
which a smaller rectangular part is removed. If the
remaining area of the larger rectangle is 35cm2, find k.

If the length of the shortest side is n-3, the length of the

hypotenuse and the other side are n+3 and n respectively.
So, using Pythagoras Theorem,
(n-3)2 + n2 = (n+3)2
n2 - 6n + 9 + n2 = n2 + 6n + 9
The remaining area = k(2k+6) - 3k n2 = 12n
= 2k2 + 6k -3k n2 - 12n = 0
= 2k2 + 3k n(n - 12) = 0
Since the area is 35cm2 n = 0 or n = 12.
2k2 + 3k = 35 Since the length cannot be zero, n = 12.
2k2 + 3k - 35 = 0
(2k -7)(k + 5) = 0 12. Two cyclists move away from a town along two
k = 3.5 or k = -5 perpendicular paths at 20 mph and 40 mph respectively.
Since the length cannot be negative, k = 3.5. The second cyclist starts the journey an hour later than the
first one. Find the time taken for them to be 100 miles
11. The shortest side of a right-angled triangle is 6cm shorter apart.
than its hypotenuse. The difference in length of other two
sides is 3cm. If the shortest side is n-3, show that 2n2 =
12n. Hence, find n.
Suppose the time taken by the first cyclist is t; then the time
taken by the other cyclist = (t-1)
The distances travelled by them are 20t and 40(t-1)
respectively.
Using Pythagoras Theorem,
(20t)2 + [40(t-1)]2 = 1002
400t2 + 1600(t-1)2 = 10000
t2 + 4t2 - 8t + 4 = 25
5t2 - 8t -21 = 0
(5t + 7)(t -3) = 0
t = 3 or t = -1.4
Since time cannot be negative, t = 3hrs.