Rita has stickers. She gave half of them to her friend but her brother gave her 8. She ends up with 12 stickers. What arithmetic operations are used to SOLVE this?

1 answer

To solve the problem, we can break it down into a series of arithmetic operations. Let's define the number of stickers Rita initially had as \( x \).

  1. Giving Half Away: Rita gives half of her stickers to her friend, so she has: \[ \frac{x}{2} \] remaining after giving away half.

  2. Receiving Stickers from Brother: After receiving 8 stickers from her brother, the number of stickers Rita has becomes: \[ \frac{x}{2} + 8 \]

  3. Ending Up with a Final Amount: We know that after these transactions, Rita ends up with 12 stickers. Therefore, we can set up the equation: \[ \frac{x}{2} + 8 = 12 \]

  4. Solving the Equation: To find \( x \), we need to isolate it. We can start by subtracting 8 from both sides: \[ \frac{x}{2} = 12 - 8 \] \[ \frac{x}{2} = 4 \]

  5. Multiplying Both Sides: Next, we multiply both sides by 2 to get \( x \): \[ x = 4 \times 2 \] \[ x = 8 \]

So, the arithmetic operations involved in solving this problem are:

  • Division: To find half of the stickers.
  • Addition: For adding the stickers her brother gave her.
  • Subtraction: To rearrange the equation.
  • Multiplication: To solve for the initial number of stickers.

Thus, to summarize the operations used: Division, Addition, Subtraction, and Multiplication.