How many students are 25 and under?

HOME

Math Central

Quandaries & Queries

Question from ella, a student:

use the five steps of problem solving to answer the following question
Enrollment at a local university is 8,500. There are one third as many students over the age of 25. there are 25 and under. how many students are 25 and under and how many are 25 and older

Hi Ella,

I'm not sure what 5 steps you are to follow but I will tell you how I would solve this problem.

Suppose you collect together all the students and separate those who are over the age of 25. Look at the students who are 25 and under. Split them into three equal size groups. Each one of these groups has the same number of students as the collection of students over the age of 25. Thus you have all the students divided into 4 equal sized groups. How many students is in each group?

Penny

Math Central is supported by the University of Regina and The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences.