Question

Elliot has a total of 26 books. He has 12 more fiction books than nonfiction books. Let x represent the number of fiction books.

Which equation represents the situation?

How many fiction books does Elliot have?

How many nonfiction books does Elliot have?

Answer 1

Let x = number of fiction books. Then nonfiction = x − 12, and total: x + (x − 12) = 26.

Equation: 2x − 12 = 26
Solve: 2x = 38 → x = 19

Fiction books = 19, Nonfiction books = 19 − 12 = 7.