Derek D. answered • 06/12/20
3+ years of substitute teaching experience /Math major
Wording is so important when it comes to these questions. I am assuming we need to translate this word statement into an algebraic expression, since there is no other information provided. Let's start by breaking down the keywords in our statement:
"Find the difference of 8x and twice the sum of x and 7"
"difference" means subtraction between two items:
Find the difference of 8x and twice the sum of x and 7
8x is clearly our first item, but our second item has more key words to look at:
Find the difference of 8x and twice the sum of x and 7
"Sum" means addition between two items, so I know x+7 will appear but there's also the word:
Find the difference of 8x and twice the sum of x and 7
"twice" means we will multiply "the sum of x and 7" by 2, so
Find the difference of 8x and twice the sum of x and 7
translates into
8x-2(x+7)
Your question asks to find that difference- but this is an expression, not an equation, so we can't necessarily "solve" or find the difference. It is important to provide the instructions along with the given problem, so the context of what we need to do is clear. I hope this helped!
