Read the problem below. Use the work backward strategy to find the answer.

Question

Wilma and Betty are playing a number game.

Wilma tells Betty, "I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10. If I take the number and add 4 to it and then multiply that by 3, I get 30."

What number is Wilma thinking of?

Read the problem below. Use the work backward strategy to find the answer.

Wilma and Betty are playing a number game.

Wilma tells Betty, "I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10. If I take the number and add 4 to it and then multiply that by 3, I get 30."

What number is Wilma thinking of?

37

94

6

9

Answer 1

To determine the number that Wilma is thinking of, let's work backwards from the final result provided in the problem.

Wilma says that if she adds 4 to her number and then multiplies by 3, she gets 30.

1. Start with the result:
   The equation to look at is \( (x + 4) \times 3 = 30 \).

2. Divide both sides by 3 to isolate the term with \( x \):
   \[ x + 4 = \frac{30}{3} \] \[ x + 4 = 10 \]

3. Subtract 4 from both sides to solve for \( x \):
   \[ x = 10 - 4 \] \[ x = 6 \]

Thus, the number Wilma is thinking of is 6.