1. The weight of a bag of bricks plus 20% of its weight is 30 pounds. How much does the bag of bricks weigh, in pounds?
2. A rich merchant had collected many gold coins. He did not want anybody to know about them. One day, his wife asked, "How many gold coins do you have?" After pausing a moment, he replied, "Well! If I divide the coins into two unequal numbers, then 25 times the difference between the two numbers equals the difference between the squares of the two numbers." How many gold coins does the rich merchant have?
3. Suppose that you go out and buy 100 lbs. of cucumbers that are 99% water. Unfortunately, you do not observe the rules of caring for your cucumbers so after some time they dehydrate until they are only 98% water. How much do they then weigh?
4. Ed invests $57,000 in stocks paying 8%. How much additional money should he invest in certificates of deposit paying 3% so that the average return on Ed’s investments is 4%?