Ivory J. answered 12/19/19
Versatile, professional, experienced teacher ready to inspire!
"Four more than three times a number is at least twenty."
The first step to solving this problem is understanding two things: what it's telling you, and what it's asking you. This problem asks us to write an algebraic expression, and then it tells us some words that can reveal our next steps.
"Four more than" - What operation does "four more than" suggest? Addition.
"three times a number" - What operation does "three times a number" suggest? Multiplication. (Also, "a number" suggests an unknown quantity)
"at least twenty" - What does this suggest? That the total is twenty or more; that is, the total is greater than or equal to twenty.
Now we can put it together:
Four more than three times a number is at least twenty = 4 + 3x ≥ 20.