Many students have difficulty translating an inequation into an equation.
Sometimes it helps to rephrase the statement into something like ...
"three times the number is more than 8 times the smaller by 5"
3(23) > 8x by 5
so add 5 to the smaller side and it becomes an "equation"
3(23) = 8x+5
69-5 = 8x
x = 8
the smaller number is 8
The larger of two numbers is 23. if three times the number is 5 more than eight times the smaller, find the smaller number.
1 answer