Five more than the product of a number and 8 equals 2 .

Answer 1

Whenever you talk about an unknown number, you typically write this unknown number as x. So the product of 5 more than the product of a number and 8 equals 2 would be written as:

5 + 8x = 2. 8x is 8 times the unknown number. From here, you have to get rid of the 5 and 8 in order to get x by itself. To do this, first you subtract 5 from both sides of the equation (you have to do the same thing to both sides of the equation to keep it equal), then divide both sides by 8, like so:

5 + 8x = 2

5 - 5 + 8x = 2 - 5

8x = -3

8x/8 = -3/8

x = -3/8 (negative three-eighths).

To check your work, substitute -3/8 for x in the equation:

5 + 8x = 2

5 + (8 x -3/8) = 2

5 + (-24/8) = 2

5 - 24/8 = 2. 24 divided by 8 = 3, so

5 - 3 = 2. Since this is a correct equation, then -3/8 is the correct answer.