Here's a few word problems from a sample GED exam to consider.

A basketball team has won 50 games of 75 played. The team still has 45 games to play. How many of the remaining games must the team win in order to win 60% of all games played during the season?

First, get the total number of games the team plays, which is 75 + 45 = 120. Now you know that the team won 60% of its games. So take 120 x 0.60 = 72, this is the total number of games the team wins. Since the team already has 50 wins, it wins 22 more games to get to 72 total wins.

Note that we use 0.60 for 60% because to change a percent to a decimal, move the decimal point 2 places to the left. You can also change 60% to 0.60 by taking 60/100.

A rectangle and a triangle have equal areas. The length of the rectangle is 12 inches, and its width is 8 inches. If the base of the triangle is 32 inches, what is the length, in inches, of the altitude drawn to the base?

Area of rectangle = length x width

Area of triangle = 1/2(base)x(height)

Area of rectangle = 12 x 8 = 96

Area of triangle = 1/2(base) x (height)

96 = 1/2(32) x height

96= 16 x height

96/16 = height

6 = height