Question

while back, either James borrowed $12 from his friend Rita or she borrowed $12 from him, but he can’t quite remember which. Either way, he is planning to pay her back or ask that she pay him back this afternoon. If he has $42.80 in his wallet, which equation represents the amount of money he may have after he sees Rita?

|x – 42.80| = 12
|x + 42.80| = 12
|x – 12| = 42.80
|x + 12| = 42.80

Answer 1

Let x be the amount he has after he sees Rita. His amount will be either 42.80 + 12 or 42.80 - 12, so the distance between x and 42.80 is 12. That is |x − 42.80| = 12.