Fill in the blanks Abigail is thinking of a number. She states, “If I subtract three from twice a number, x, then the difference will be at least 45.” what would be the smallest value that would make the scenario true?

Answer 1

We can start by translating Abigail's statement into a mathematical inequality. She mentions subtracting three from twice a number, \( x \), which can be expressed as:

\[ 2x - 3 \]

She states that this difference will be at least 45, which leads us to set up the inequality:

\[ 2x - 3 \geq 45 \]

Now, we can solve for \( x \):

1. Add 3 to both sides:

\[ 2x - 3 + 3 \geq 45 + 3 \]

This simplifies to:

\[ 2x \geq 48 \]

2. Next, divide both sides by 2:

\[ x \geq \frac{48}{2} \]

Which simplifies to:

\[ x \geq 24 \]

Thus, the smallest value that would make the scenario true is:

\[ \boxed{24} \]