8 less than the product of 4 and a number is -84. What is the number?

Answer 1

Hi Abigail,

Let x = the number we want.

“8 less than” means we will subtract 8.

”the product of 4 and a number” means 4 times x.

So the sentence is saying that

4x - 8 = -84. Add 8 to both sides:

4x = -76. Divide both sides by 4:

x = -19.

Please let me know if I can be more helpful, thanks!

Joe