Translate the sentence into a equation

Question

Twice the difference of a number and 5 equals 8

Answer 1

2(x-5) = 8

x-5 = 4

x=9

Answer 2

The difference of a number n and 5 is written mathematically either as n-5 or 5-n, but the usual convention is the figures appear in the same order both places, so we'll go with n-5. Twice that difference would be 2n-10 and since that equals 8, the whole equation would be 2n-10=8. While not part of the problem, we could then derive the value of n as follows: 2n-10=8 -> 2n=18 -> n=9