Which equation describes the cost of the truck,” t”, in terms of the cost of the car, “c”.

Question

The cost of a truck is $500 more than the cost of a car. Select the equation that describes the cost of the truck,” t”, in terms of the cost of the car, “c”.

A. c= t + 500

B. t = c – 500

C. c = t/500

D. t = c + 500

Answer 1

The "translation" of the words and phrases of word (story) problems is the key to solving the problem (note" the math is usually easy).  Unfortunately, most teachers and tutor think the translation is easy (because they've done it a million times).  Here is how it looks:

 

Let:

      C = cost of car

      T = cost of truck

 

     "The cost of a truck is $500 more than the cost of a car"

                      T           =  $500       +                   C

 

Make a list:

    "of"    usually means multiply

    "is "                      =

    "more than"          +

    "less than"            -

     . . .

 

Now, watch that last one, "less than."  How about this translation:

        "The cost of a car is $500 less than the cost of the truck."

                       C          =   -$500           +   T

 

Remember, after you translate, you may rearrange the math expressions and perform math operations to solve the problem.

 

Answer 2

Your answer is D.

 

 

If we rearrange the terms in this equation, we get.

 

t - c = 500

 

 

A big value minus a small value is a positive number.  This means that t is larger than c by 500.