Transum Software

Stable Scales

The scales are balanced. Can you work out the weight of the items on the scales? These pictures can be represented by linear equations.
Home Help Equations Algebra

The total weight of the items on the left dish is the same as the items on the right dish. Can you work out the weight of one item? Enter your answers in the boxes provided then click the 'Check' button to see if you are right. You can click the check button after each question if you wish. If you double-click the 'Check' button it will float! Drag the items around if it helps.

Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit

16

Fruit
=
Correct Wrong
Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit

20

Fruit
=
Correct Wrong
Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit

9

Fruit
=
Correct Wrong
Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit

3

Fruit
=
Correct Wrong
Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit

3

11

Fruit
=
Correct Wrong
Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit

1

17

Fruit
=
Correct Wrong
Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit

3

21

Fruit
=
Correct Wrong
Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit

1

9

Fruit
=
Correct Wrong
Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit

2

12

Fruit
=
Correct Wrong
Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit

19

1

Fruit
=
Correct Wrong

Reset Items Check Answers

Instructions

Try your best to answer the questions above. Type your answers into the boxes provided leaving no spaces. As you work through the exercise regularly click the "check" button. If you have any wrong answers, do your best to do corrections but if there is anything you don't understand, please ask your teacher for help.

When you have got all of the questions correct you may want to print out this page and paste it into your exercise book. If you keep your work in an ePortfolio you could take a screen shot of your answers and paste that into your Maths file.
Why am I learning this?

Mathematicians are not the people who find Maths easy; they are the people who enjoy how mystifying, puzzling and hard it is. Are you a mathematician?

Comment recorded on the 2 May 'Starter of the Day' page by Angela Lowry, :

"I think these are great! So useful and handy, the children love them.
Could we have some on angles too please?"

Comment recorded on the 1 May 'Starter of the Day' page by Phil Anthony, Head of Maths, Stourport High School:

"What a brilliant website. We have just started to use the 'starter-of-the-day' in our yr9 lessons to try them out before we change from a high school to a secondary school in September. This is one of the best resources on-line we have found. The kids and staff love it. Well done an thank you very much for making my maths lessons more interesting and fun."

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Featured Activity

Beat The Clock

Beat The Clock

It is a race against the clock to answer 30 mental arithmetic questions. There are nine levels to choose from to suit pupils of different abilities.

Answers

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Learning and understanding Mathematics, at every level, requires learner engagement. Mathematics is not a spectator sport. Sometimes traditional teaching fails to actively involve students. One way to address the problem is through the use of interactive activities and this web site provides many of those. The Go Maths page is an alphabetical list of free activities designed for students in Secondary/High school.

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Are you looking for something specific? An exercise to supplement the topic you are studying at school at the moment perhaps. Navigate using our Maths Map to find exercises, puzzles and Maths lesson starters grouped by topic.

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Example

Here is an example showing a good way to solve problems like these. It helps to think of the two sides of the balance as two sides of an equation. The equation will remain balanced only if you do the same thing (multiply, divide add or subtract) to both sides. Let x stand for the weight of one item.

5x + 3 = 3x + 15
Subtract 3 from both sides
5x = 3x + 12
Subtract 3x from both sides
2x = 12
Divide both sides by 2
x = 6

So the weight of the item is 6 units.

Close

Close

Don't wait until you have finished the exercise before you click on the 'Check' button. Click it often as you work through the questions to see if you are answering them correctly. You can double-click the 'Check' button to make it float at the bottom of your screen.

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

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