Courtney sold 48 cantaloupes at the farmers' market and had 25 left. Which equation could be used to find x, the number of cantaloupes Courtney had originally?

A.
x + 48 = 25
B.
x – 25 = 48
C.
x – 48 = –25
D.
x + 25 = –48

1 answer

To find the number of cantaloupes Courtney had originally, you can set up the following equation:

Let \( x \) be the original number of cantaloupes. After selling 48 cantaloupes, she had 25 left. This can be represented by the equation:

\[ x - 48 = 25 \]

However, we need to rearrange it to one of the provided options. If we add 48 to both sides, we get:

\[ x = 25 + 48 \]

This is equivalent to:

\[ x - 48 = 25 \]

Rearranging further, we can see that we want to isolate x, which leads to:

Thus, the correct option is:

C. \( x - 48 = 25 \).

Now if we try to fit it back into one of the given options:

Since \( x - 48 = 25\) can be rearranged as \( x = 25 + 48 \) leading to:

  • Therefore, that would actually support option: C. \( x - 48 = -25 \)

So, the final answer is C when accurately represented based on options provided.