Subtraction word problems
Subtraction word problems arise in any situations where there is a loss or a decrease of something as a result of deducting a number from another.
Think of subtraction as removing parts from a whole.
Consider the following word problem.
In the problem below, Sebastian has 8 pencils and he gives away 5 pencils to his friends.
Sebastian is experiencing a loss of 5 pencils, so the subtraction problem to solve to get the answer is 8 - 5 and 8 - 5 = 3.
Sebastian is left with 3 pencils.
Here are a few more interesting subtraction word problems along with their solutions.
Problem #1:
Peter has 20 dollars in his pocket. He buys a 32 ounces vanilla ice cream for 8 dollars from the best ice cream shop in the neighborhood. How much is Peter's change?
Solution
In this situation, Peter is also experiencing a loss because some money will be taken away from him for the ice cream.
Therefore, we need to do this subtraction to get the answer: 20 - 8. This subtraction requires regrouping since you cannot remove eight from zero.

Peter's change = 20 - 8 = 12 dollars.
Problem #2:
Suppose that a car dealer has an inventory of 15,258 Honda Accord they have to sell by the end of 2008. Suppose they don't meet their goals and sell only 12456 Honda Accord by the end of 2008. How many cars are left in the backyard of the car dealer?
Solution
In this situation, we are removing parts from a whole to get the leftover.
Therefore, we need to do this subtraction to get the answer: 15258 - 12456. This subtraction also requires regrouping since you cannot remove four hundreds from two hundreds.

Number of cars in the back yard = 15258 - 12456 = 2802
Problem #3
At a local supermarket, a box of cereal usually costs 5.56 dollars. This week, the supermarket sells the box of cereal for 3.42 dollars. How much money will you save if you buy this cereal at this supermarket?
Solution
Once again, in this situation, there is a decrease in the price.
Therefore, we need to do this subtraction in order to get the answer: 5.56 - 3.42. This is a straightforward subtraction with no regrouping!

Saving = 5.56 - 3.42 = 2.14 dollars
Have A Great Basic Math Word Problem?
Share it here with a very detailed solution!
What Other Visitors Have Said
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
-
Jul 02, 22 07:53 AM
This lesson will show clearly how to derive the formula to find the pressure in a liquid.
Read More
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...
Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?
- Click on the HTML link code below.
- Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.