Which situations can represent the expression 8−x

? Check the three that apply.



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(3 points)
Responses

Sydney increased her collection of stamps by eight.
Sydney increased her collection of stamps by eight.

Gabrielle decreased her eight-minute commute to school by some number of minutes.
Gabrielle decreased her eight-minute commute to school by some number of minutes.

Jones County has eight fewer elective courses than Smith County.
Jones County has eight fewer elective courses than Smith County.

Eight serving of lunch decreased by some number.
Eight serving of lunch decreased by some number.

Benjamin lost eight of his socks.
Benjamin lost eight of his socks.

Naomi had eight pencils and gave some away to her classmates.

1 answer

To determine which situations represent the expression \( 8 - x \), we need to identify examples where there is an original quantity of 8 that is then decreased by some amount \( x \).

Here are the relevant situations:

  1. Gabrielle decreased her eight-minute commute to school by some number of minutes.

    • This situation describes starting with 8 minutes and reducing that time by some number \( x \), which aligns with the expression \( 8 - x \).
  2. Jones County has eight fewer elective courses than Smith County.

    • This situation implies that there is a total of \( 8 \) fewer courses compared to an unknown quantity, suggesting a subtraction involving the number of courses.
  3. Naomi had eight pencils and gave some away to her classmates.

    • Here, Naomi starts with \( 8 \) pencils and gives away some \( x \) pencils, which again reflects \( 8 - x \).

The other options do not align with the expression \( 8 - x \). Here are the explanations for the rest:

  • Sydney increased her collection of stamps by eight.

    • This implies an increase, not a decrease, so it doesn't fit.
  • Eight servings of lunch decreased by some number.

    • This is somewhat ambiguous but doesn't clearly denote an original quantity of 8 being subtracted by a variable \( x \).
  • Benjamin lost eight of his socks.

    • This is a loss of 8, not a situation involving subtracting from an initial value of 8.

Therefore, the three statements that apply are:

  1. Gabrielle decreased her eight-minute commute to school by some number of minutes.
  2. Jones County has eight fewer elective courses than Smith County.
  3. Naomi had eight pencils and gave some away to her classmates.