Objective 17 Word Problems: Evaluate algebraic expressions ©2002 by R. Villar All Rights Reserved

Word Problems: Evaluate algebraic expressions Recall that evaluate means to substitute constants (numbers) for the variables and solve. For this objective, you will be evaluating algebraic expressions within word problems. Example: The cost of a school banquet is $ n, where n is the number of people attending. What is the cost for 62 people? Substitute 62 in place of n in the expression… (62) = = $ 809

Example: An employee who receives a weekly salary of $250 and a 5% commission is paid according to the formula p = 0.05s + 250, where p represents the total amount earned weekly and s represents the total weekly sales. Find the earnings for a week with $2529 total sales. Substitute 2529 in place of the variable that represents total sales in the expression… p = 0.05(2529) = = $376.45

Example: Imagine that you own your own T-shirt business. The cost of making the designs and buying the T-shirts is $475. In addition to these one time charges, the cost of printing each T-shirt is $1.75. The average cost per T-shirt for the business to manufacture x T-shirts is modeled by. Find the average cost per T-shirt when x = 100. Substitute 100 in place of each x in the expression… A = 1.75(100) = = = $6.50