Five times the difference of a number and two is seven more than that number.

Answer 1

Call the number n.

5 times = 5 x

The difference of a number and 2 = n-2

Seven more than that number = 7 + n

So 5(n-2) = 7 + n

Distribute the 5: 5n - 10 = 7 + n

Subtract n from both sides: 4n - 10 = 7

Add 10 to both sides: 4n = 17

Divide both sides by 4: n = 17/4 or 4 1/4

Which seems like a weird answer -- I would have expected to get a whole number. But that is the right answer given the information you gave me. Make sure you wrote the problem down correctly.