Word problems
The sentence,
turned into algebra.
Nobody gets stuck on the arithmetic. They get stuck turning three sentences of English into two equations. Solvecoon writes the translation out as its own step: what each letter means, and which phrase in the question produced each line.
Free to try — 5 solves every day. No credit card.
How it works
Select the whole problem
Every sentence matters, including the one that looks like scene setting. It usually holds a constraint.
Read the set-up first
Variables defined, then the equations, each traced back to the phrase it came from.
Check the answer against the story
The last step asks whether the number makes sense for the situation described.
What it handles
Distance, rate, and time
Catch-up problems, opposite directions, and round trips with different speeds.
Mixture and concentration
Two solutions combined, alloys, and how much pure substance to add.
Work rate
Two people or two pipes working together, and the reciprocal set-up it needs.
Money and percentage
Interest, discounts, markups, tax, tips, and profit margin.
Age and number puzzles
The problems where writing down what now and then mean solves half of it.
Physics and chemistry in words
Where the translation includes choosing the right formula and the right units.
A real one, worked out
This is the shape of every answer: the result first, then the reasoning that got there.
Question
A train leaves a station at 60 km/h. Two hours later a second train leaves the same station on the same track at 90 km/h. How long until the second train catches the first?
Answer
4 hours after the second train leaves
Steps
- 1Define t as the number of hours the second train has been travelling.
- 2In those two extra hours, the first train covered 60 x 2 = 120 km before the second one started.
- 3Distance of the first train after t more hours: 120 + 60t.
- 4Distance of the second train: 90t.
- 5Catching up means the distances are equal: 90t = 120 + 60t.
- 6Subtract 60t: 30t = 120, so t = 4 hours.
- 7Sense check: the second train travels 90 x 4 = 360 km, and the first travels 120 + 240 = 360 km. They meet.
Defining t as the second train's travelling time rather than the first train's is what keeps the algebra short. Say which one you chose before you write the equation.
Underline the numbers, then the units, then the question. In that order.
What it will not do
- It will not be used in a graded test or a proctored exam.
- It will not invent a value the problem never gave. It says which quantity is missing.
- It will not read a problem that continues below your selection. Include the whole thing.
- It will not always pick the variable your textbook picked. Ask it to redo the set-up with yours.
Solvecoon is a study aid, not an answer machine. Exams, graded quizzes, and proctored tests are off limits — see the acceptable use policy.
Questions people ask
- Does it show how the equation was built?
- Yes, and it is the first thing it shows. Which quantity each letter stands for, and which sentence produced each equation.
- Can it do multi-step problems with several unknowns?
- Yes. It defines each variable, writes one equation per constraint, and then solves the system with the method named.
- What if I set it up differently?
- Select your set-up and ask whether it works. Different valid set-ups reach the same answer, and it will say if yours is one of them.
- Does it handle units?
- It keeps units attached throughout and flags mismatches, like minutes mixed with hours, which is the most common source of a wrong answer here.
Stuck on something?
Select it or snap it — Solvecoon understands it.
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