SECTION 2-WHOLE NUMBER WORD PROBLEMS

MULTIPLICATION

You can think of a multiplication problem as being given the size of a set, and the number of sets. The size of all of the sets combined is arrived by multiplying these two figures together. The number you reach at the end of this multiplication is called the product.

Before examining some word problems let's take a few minutes to review the meaning of some of the multiplication problems we performed back in the previous section.

324 x 8 = 2,592
You could think of this problem in the following as "How much is 324 sets of 8?"
You have 324 sets. Each set has 8 elements.
The product indicates that there is a grand total of 2,592 elements.
324 x 8 = 2,592
You could think of this problem in the following as "How much is 8 sets of 324?"
You have 8 sets. Each set has 324 elements.
The product indicates that there is a grand total of 2,592 elements.
324 x 738 = 239,112
You could think of this problem in the following as "How much is 324 sets of 738?"
You have 324 sets. Each set has 738 elements.
The product indicates that there is a grand total of 2,592 elements.
324 x 738 = 239,112
You could think of this problem in the following as "How much is 738 sets of 324?"
You have 738 sets. Each set has 324 elements.
The product indicates that there is a grand total of 2,592 elements.

Now let's extend this understanding of multiplication to word problems.

Example 1

Every classroom in a school contains 32 students. How many students would 5 classrooms hold?

The size of each set is the number of students in each classroom. Therefore the size of each set is 32. There are 5 classrooms, thus we are interested in 5 sets.
5 x 32 = 160.
Five classrooms would contain 160 students.

Example 2

You are traveling at a constant speed of 55 miles per hour. How far will you have traveled after 3 hours?

The size of our set as 55 (the number of miles traveled each hour).
The number of sets is 3 (3 hours).
55 x 3 = 165.
After three hours you will have traveled 165 miles.

Example 3

Ground beef is sold at $6 per pound. How much will 3 lbs. of ground beef cost?

To solve this problem consider 6 as the size of your set (the price for each pound) and the number of sets is 3 (3 lbs.).
The product will be 6 x 3 or 18.
3 lbs. of ground beef will cost $18.

Now it's time for you to practice taking products.
To see a word problem, click on the "generate a multiplication word problem" button. Work out the problem and place your answer in the text box. Then click the "check my answer" button. The computer will then tell you whether or not your answer was correct. You will get additional instructions if your answer was incorrect.

After you complete the problem you can generate another word problem by clicking the "reset" button and then clicking the "generate a multiplication word problem" button once again. Continue as many times as you wish, and then:

All text, images, and source code c2003 Martin Selditch.