Disclosure: Some of these story problems were modified from problems

found on the Internet, each with multiple sources.

Train A leaves the depot travelling at 30 mph. Train B leaves 1 hour later

travelling at 50 mph. At what time will Train B overtake Train A?

If you took the A Train and disembark at 42nd Street, would the sax

player in the subway be blowing Coltrane’s Blue Train? Would you

consider dropping a five in his hat?

A bigleaf maple tree is 65 feet tall and casts a shadow that is 30 feet long.

A 120-year-old Douglas fir tree is 100 feet tall. How long is the fir’s

shadow after it’s been logged for 12,000 board-feet of lumber?

Two cyclists are racing on a mountainous course that is 150 kilometers

long. One cyclist is riding at 18 mph and the second cyclist, using

performance enhancing drugs, is riding at 22 mph. Who wins?

A bank executive drove from home at an average speed of 40 mph to an

airport where a airplane was waiting. The executive boarded the plane

and flew to the corporate offices at an average speed of 120 mph. The

entire distance was 200 miles; the entire trip took three hours. How much

money did the bank swindle before, during, and after the last financial

crisis?

You wake at 4 AM

           wondering why?

A boat travels for three hours with a current of 3 mph and then returns the

same distance against the current in four hours. What is the boat's speed

in calm water? Where would the boat go if we let it float with the

current?

Can a sponge soak up this water

            without dripping endlessly?

At some time,

you may want to unlearn all the answers

            and watch your children play.