Algebra Word Problem: Calculating Total Weekly Mileage

Published on June 2, 2026

Word-Problem

Learn how to set up an equation to calculate Aiden's total weekly driving distance, considering his commute to work and weekend visits to his parents.

Question

Answer

To find the equation that represents Aiden’s total miles driven in one week, we need to break down his driving habits into two parts: his commute to work and his trip to his parents’ house.
1. Commute to Work:
  • The distance from home to work is miles.
  • Since he drives to work and back, he drives miles each day he works.
  • Let be the number of days worked.
  • The total miles driven for work in a week is .
2. Trip to Parents’ House:
  • The distance from home to his parents’ house is miles.
  • Since he drives there and back, he drives miles on the weekend.
  • miles.
3. Total Miles:
To find the total miles driven in one week, we add the work commute miles and the weekend trip miles together:
Comparing this to the given options:
  • Option 1: (Correct)
  • Option 2: (Incorrect; this suggests he visits his parents times)
  • Option 3: (Incorrect)
  • Option 4: (Incorrect)
The correct equation is: