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Priya and Wei Ming wrap sweets by hand at a candy factory.
Priya and Wei Ming wrap sweets by hand at a candy factory. Priya wraps 5 more sweets per minute than Wei Ming. They start wrapping together, and after 48 minutes Priya leaves for her break while Wei Ming carries on wrapping alone for another 12 minutes. By the time Wei Ming stops, the two of them have wrapped the same total number of sweets. Wei Ming stopped wrapping at 4:00 p.m.
- (a) At what time did they start wrapping?
- (b) How many sweets did they wrap altogether?
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The pattern behind it: Same time, same distance
Two travellers spend the same time, or cover the same distance.
In this one. Because their final totals are equal, Priya's 48-minute lead from wrapping 5 extra sweets each minute must be exactly the number of sweets Wei Ming wraps in his extra 12 minutes.
How to spot it
Two travellers set off together or one chases another, with constant speeds and a question about who is ahead, when they meet, or how far apart they are.
Common mistake
Children divide the whole distance by the difference in speed instead of dividing the gap between the travellers, or compare distances covered over different lengths of time.
Try one like it
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All 33 patterns, one to a page — the 19 behind Primary 5 and 6 word problems, and the skills the younger years are built on. The bar model, how to spot it in the question, and the mistake children make. A booklet you can print. Free.
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