Making Maths Count

Maths Week Scotland 2019 – The Extension

October 3, 2019 by John Swinney MSP No Comments | Category Education, Games, Maths

Problem 4: The Extension

A contractor was planning a small extension to a house and subcontracting the work to six tradespeople. For some peculiar reason, she worked out what she would have to pay in total to certain pairs of them, as follows:

a)  £18000 to the builder and the joiner

b)  £9000 to the joiner and the roofer

c)  £3800 to the roofer and the plasterer

d)  £1500 to the plasterer and the electrician

e)  £1200 to the electrician and the plumber

f)  £6500 to the plumber and the joiner.

How much did she pay to each tradesperson individually and what was her total outlay?

Solutions to Problem 4:

From b) and c), the joiner gets £5200 more than the plasterer.

From d) and e), the plasterer gets £300 more than the plumber.

So the joiner gets £5500 more than the plumber.

But from f), the joiner and the plumber get £6500 between them.

So the joiner gets £6000 and the plumber gets £500.

From e), the electrician gets £700.

From d), the plasterer gets £800.

From c), the roofer gets £3000.

From a), the builder gets £12000.

The total outlay is the sum of the payments to the six, i.e. £23000.

Tags: John Swinney, Maths Week

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