how do I get the answer?

Question

adison earned $25 mowing her neighbor's lawn. Then she loaned her friend $18, and got $50 from her grandmother for her birthday. She now has $86. How much money did adison have to begin with?

Answer 1

Hi Adison,

 

Let's begin by assigning a letter to represent Adison's beginning amount of money:

    x = beginning amount of money

 

Now let's build an expression step-by-step from her beginning amount (x), which will represent all her take-in and pay-out amounts:

    x + 25 ($25 earned for mowing lawn)

    x + 25 - 18 ($18 loan to her friend)

    x + 25 - 18 + 50 ($50 birthday gift from grandma)

   

Now let's set this expression we've built equal to her final amount and solve our equation for x:

    x + 25 - 18 + 50 = 86 (our equation)

    x + 7 + 50 = 86

    x + 57 = 86

    x = 86 - 57

    x = $29 (beginning amount of money)

 

The challenge to correctly solving a long word problem is being able to break it down into manageable steps.

 

Thanks for submitting this problem and glad to help.

 

God bless, Jordan.