You will need

• a calculator
8.3 Creating and Evaluating
Expressions
GOAL
Translate statements into algebraic expressions, and evaluate
the expressions.

Learn about the Math

Colin is helping to organize a school trip to
Ottawa. He needs to figure out the cost of
transportation and choose the least expensive bus
company. A total of 260 students are going on the
trip. He has prices from three bus companies for
the cost of seven buses:
• CarryAll Bus Company charges $350 per bus.
• School Bus Transport charges $7 per student.
• Zim Transport charges $500 to cover the cost
for the drivers plus $6 per student.

? Which bus company should Colin

choose?

First Colin calculated the cost of using the CarryAll Bus Company.
$350  7
$2450
Then he calculated the cost of using School Bus Transport and
Zim Transport.

Communication Tip

• Use brackets to show when you have substituted a number for a variable. This
will help prevent errors caused by accidentally running numbers together. For
example, to evaluate the expression 2a, when a
10, write 2(10).
• Write each step in a calculation directly under the previous step, and line up the
equal signs one under the other. This makes the calculation easier to read and
check later. For example,
2a  5

2(10)  5

20  5

25

278 Chapter 8 NEL

 Example 1: Evaluating an algebraic expression with one step
Create an algebraic expression to represent School Bus Transport’s cost
for any number of students. Evaluate the expression for 260 students.

Colin’s Solution

My expression for School I used the variable s to represent the number of

Bus Transport’s cost: students going on the trip.
I wrote an expression to represent multiplying s by $7
7s (the charge per student).

7(260) I substituted 260 for s because 260 is the number of

1820 students going on the trip. Then I multiplied 7 by 260.
School Bus Transport would
charge $1820 for the buses.

Example 2: Evaluating an algebraic expression with several steps

Create an algebraic expression to represent Zim Transport’s cost for any
number of students. Evaluate the expression for 260 students.

Colin’s Solution

My expression for Zim I used the variable s to represent the number of students
Transport’s cost: going on the trip.
I wrote an expression to represent multiplying s by $6 (the charge
500  6s per student) and then adding $500 (the cost of the drivers).

500  6(260) I substituted 260 for s because 260 is the number of students

500  1560 going on the trip.

2060 I used the order of operations to evaluate the expression.
Zim Transport would
charge $2060 for the
buses.

Colin chose School Bus Transport because it is the least expensive.

Reflecting
1. Why do you think Colin did not use a table of values to find the cost
for School Bus Transport or Zim Transport?

2. Why do you think Colin did not use a scatter plot to find the cost for
School Bus Transport or Zim Transport?

3. Explain how to create and evaluate an algebraic expression.

NEL
Variables, Expressions, and Equations 279
 Work with the Math

Example 3: Creating and evaluating an algebraic expression

A cafeteria charges $250 plus $5 per meal after the first 140 students.
Create an algebraic expression to calculate the cafeteria bill for 260 students.
Evaluate the expression.

Rana’s Solution

I used the variable m to represent the total number

of meals served.
250  5(m  140) The charge of $5 per meal is only for the number of meals
greater than 140. I found this number by using m  140.
= 250  5((260)  140) I substituted 260 for m, and then did the calculations in
= 250  5(120) the correct order.
= 250  600
= 850
The cafeteria bill is $850.

A Checking B Practising
4. A bowl of chili costs $4. Which expression 7. Asha skated the length of a frozen canal
represents the cost of buying chili for b t times, except the last time she stopped
people? 2 km from the end. The canal is 7 km long.
a) 7b  4 b) b  4 c) 4b a) Write an algebraic expression that
represents how far Asha skated in
5. Evaluate each expression when d
5.
kilometres.
a) 6d c) d  1
b) Suppose that t
4. Use your expression
b) 5d  1 d) 3(d  2) to calculate the distance Asha skated.
6. Write an algebraic expression to represent 8. Evaluate each algebraic expression when
the cost of renting a sleigh for $12 per hour a
3 and b
5.
plus $35.
a) 3a e) 3a  2
b) 8b f) 4b  6
c) 9a g) 5b  7
d) 2(b  1) h) 5(a  5)

9. Evaluate 6(b  1)  3 when b
4. Show

and explain all the steps.

280 Chapter 8 NEL

10. Write an algebraic expression for each cost. 14. In some parts of question 5, you needed to
a) $4 a pair for skate sharpening use the order of operations. Show how you
could have made a mistake if you had not
b) hamburgers at $3 per person
used the correct order of operations.
c) $2 per hour plus $5 for renting skates
d) hats on sale for $10 each 15. Create a problem, based on a real-life
situation, that can be represented using the
e) cost of a pizza shared equally by four
algebraic expression 2x  6. Solve your
students
problem.
11. Samantha works in the snack bar at a
community centre. She earns $8 an hour. C Extending
On her last day, she is paid a bonus of $50.
16. Write an algebraic expression for each
a) Choose a variable to represent the
description.
number of hours Samantha works.
a) the cost of pizza at $4 per student
b) Write an algebraic expression that
added to the cost of drinks at $2 per
describes Samantha’s earnings.
student plus $200 for the bus
c) Use your expression to calculate how
b) four times the combined number of
much Samantha would earn if she
apples and pears
works 15 h and receives the bonus.
Show your work. c) the cost of hot chocolate for six people
plus the cost of muffins for eight people
12. Jerry sells toques at a kiosk. He is paid
$25 a day plus $2 for each toque he sells. 17. Popcorn and drinks are sold at the school’s
movie night. Popcorn is $0.75 per bag, and
a) What part of his salary never changes,
drinks are $1.25 each.
no matter how many toques he sells?
a) Write an algebraic expression that
b) Write an algebraic expression that
represents the total amount of money
describes Jerry’s daily salary.
received by selling popcorn and drinks.
c) Use your algebraic expression to
b) Predict which of the three movie nights
calculate how much Jerry will earn in
received the most money for selling
one day if he sells 17 toques.
popcorn and drinks.
13. Winnie can use up to 10 coupons when Number
buying a box of DVDs. Each coupon is of bags of Number
worth $3. She bought a box of DVDs for popcorn of drinks
$56 less the value of her coupons. Movie night sold sold

a) Choose a variable to represent the in November 103 76

number of coupons. in February 70 85
in April 68 75
b) Write an algebraic expression that
describes the amount Winnie paid for c) Calculate the amounts received to
the box of DVDs. check your prediction.
c) Use your expression to calculate how
much Winnie would pay if she had
5 coupons.

NEL
Variables, Expressions, and Equations 281