The table shows the number of bicycles a park kiosk rented out last week. From Monday to Friday it rented out 4n bicycles each day. On Saturday it rented out 6n + 20 bicycles, and on Sunday 2n − 5 bicycles. How many bicycles did the kiosk rent out that week, when n = 5?
The kiosk rented out 155 bicycles that week.
Ans: 155
How to solve it
Count how many days each table line stands for. Monday to Friday is 1 line but 5 days.
Write the whole week in one line: 5 times 4 n, then 6 n plus 20, then 2 n minus 5.
Collect the n terms: 20 n plus 6 n plus 2 n is 28 n.
Collect the plain numbers: 20 minus 5 is 15, so the week is 28 n plus 15.
Substitute n to be 5: 28 times 5, plus 15, is 155 bicycles.
One line in a table can stand for many days. Count the days first. Then collect.
Practice questions with worked solutions
Question 1 is free to try. The other 10 open in the free trial, each with its full working.
Question 1 of 11 · Basic · free to tryA library lent out 6p books on each of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and…A library lent out 6p books on…
A library lent out 6p books on each of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and 2p + 15 books on Friday. How many books did it lend out that week? Give your answer in terms of p, in the simplest form.
How do you solve algebra word problems with a table in P6?
Tables are a common way for longer Primary 6 algebra word problems to give their information.
What your child learns here
Tables are a common way for longer Primary 6 algebra word problems to give their information. This page applies the syllabus outcomes on notation, simplifying and substitution to a total that has to be built from several rows.
Read each row of a table and write the amount it stands for in terms of the letter.
Notice when one row stands for several days or several items, and multiply before collecting.
Write the whole total on one line, then collect the letter terms and the plain numbers.
Substitute a value into the total, or work back from a given total to the value of the letter, and answer the question that was asked.
Does the answer make sense?
When the question gives the total for the whole table, your child's answer must be smaller than that total, because it is one row or the letter's value. When the answer is an expression, put 1 in for the letter, work the story through, and the expression at 1 should agree.
How to practise these questions
The Basic questions train writing a total from a few rows and then working out its value for a given number. Intermediate questions add solving for the letter from a total, and spotting a rate that must be multiplied inside a row first. In the Challenge questions the expression passes through several stages, or every row shifts at once, before the final answer. If your child gets stuck building an expression from rows, read the written step-by-step solution together.
Questions parents ask
Are tables part of the P6 algebra syllabus? Tables are not named as a separate outcome. They are one way a word problem gives its information, and the work itself uses the syllabus outcomes on writing, simplifying and substituting into simple expressions.
What does give your answer in terms of n mean? It means the answer is an expression that still contains the letter, such as 5n + 5, not a single number. The question has not said what n is, so the letter stays in the answer, written in its simplest form.
Does the unit go inside or outside the brackets? Outside. Our pages write the expression in brackets with the unit after it, such as (5n + 5) books or $(5n + 5). This shows the unit belongs to the whole expression.
