Sophie loves to volunteer. Last year, she spent 55 hours feeding and brushing cats at the pet shelter on Mondays. She also spent time playing cards with senior citizens on Saturdays. In all, Sophie volunteered 171 hours last year.

Question

Use an equation to find the number of hours Sophie volunteered at the nursing home last year.

Answer 1

Let's denote the number of hours Sophie volunteered at the nursing home as \( x \).

According to the information given, the total number of hours Sophie volunteered last year was 171 hours, which includes 55 hours at the pet shelter. Therefore, we can set up the following equation:

\[ 55 + x = 171 \]

To find \( x \), we can subtract 55 from both sides of the equation:

\[ x = 171 - 55 \]

Now, let's do the subtraction:

\[ x = 116 \]

Thus, Sophie volunteered 116 hours at the nursing home last year.