Tiffany C. answered • 09/02/20
Experienced Instructor with Math and Database Expertise
Hi Brooke,
I sounds like you are trying to solve for what that "number" is, let me help. There are two steps to solving this, 1 rewrite the equation and 2 solve the equation.
1.Rewrite the sentence as an equation:
There are parts of the sentence that we can use as flag for actions, these actions can be for multiple, addition, equals, and more.
Let's break down your example. The product of 3 and a number increased by 7 is -36
"is -36" can be rewritten as = -36 because "is" signals the use of an equals sign.
"product of 3 and a number" can be rewritten as 3*x since "the product of" indicates multiplication and we can replace "a number" with the variable x.
increased by 7 can be rewritten as +7 because increased by signals addition.
Now let's rewrite the entire equation so it is easier to solve: 3x+7=-36
2.Solving the equation:
Goal solve for x.
3x+7=-36
First, subtract 7 from both sides:
3x+7-7=-36-7
3x=-43
Next, we divide both sides by 3.
(3x)/3=-43/3
x=-43/3
Solution
Therefore, when solving for what number satisfies "The product of 3 and a number increased by 7 is -36" the first step is to rewrite the sentence as the equation 3x+7=-36 then solve for x; the answer is (-43/3).
Using the Tool Mathematica To Solve:
I noticed your question was tagged as a Mathematica question. To solve this in the tool Mathematica, you would still need to complete part 1 "Rewrite the sentence as an equation".
The difference by using this tool is that you can ask the tool to solve for x.
To do so in the web version of the tool, simply type in 3x+7=-36 in the calculation search bar and read the results.
In the desktop tool, write out SOLVE[(3*x)+7==-36,x] and view the results as the output.
Hope this helped,
Tiffany
