Chapter 8, Problem 16CR

To determine

Translate into an equation and solve

Answer to Problem 16CR

The equation is $5+3x=17$

The number of cereal boxes is $x=4$

Explanation of Solution

Given:

Toya bought some fruit for $5 and 3 boxes of cereal and spent a total of $17

Concept Used:

Rules of Addition/ Subtraction:

• Two numbers with similar sign always get added and the resulting number will carry the similar sign.
• Two numbers with opposite signs always get subtracted and the resulting number will carry the sign of larger number.

Rules of Multiplication/ Division:

• The product/quotient of two similar sign numbers is always positive.
• The product/quotient of two numbers with opposite signs is always negative.

In order to translate the sentence into an equation

Let x be the number of boxes of cereal since Toya bought some fruit for $5 and 3 boxes of cereal and spent a total of $17means that as shown below,

  $5+3x=17$

Thus, the equation is $5+3x=17$

In order to solve the equation $5+3x=17$ first subtract both sides by $5$ and then divide both sides by $3$ and then simplify further as below:

  $\begin{array}{c}5+3x=17\\ 5+3x-5=17-5\\ 3x=12\\ \frac{3x}{3}=\frac{12}{3}\\ x=4\end{array}$

Thus, the number of cereal boxes is $x=4$