Twice a number n is 5 less than triple a number

Answer 1

Hi Leah. The key to this question is to make sure you read it very, very carefully.

in the first part of the problem, we are told that we have some number: n

so everything we do is in relation to that number n

So lets look at this question piece by piece...

”twice a number n” means some number (n) plus itself (n). So n+n. This is equivalent to 2(n)

the next word in the question is “is” this means ‘equals to’ in math terms.

So far, the problem reads:

2n=

next we have “five less than triple a number”

the important thing here is to remember the order of operations. Take care of multiplication/division parts of the question first: triple a number means:

n+n+n Or, equivocally:

3n

“Five less than..” means to subtract 5 from another number. In this case, the number is what we determined earlier: 3n

so bringing this all together:

twice a number ‘n’ is represented as 2n

‘Is’ literally means “equal to” (=)

’5 less than triple a number’ is written as 3n-5.

So bringing it all together, we have:

2n = 3n - 5

I hope this helps,

Timmy

Answer 2

In math terms

2n = 3n - 5