Four less than three times a number is 8. find the number.

Question

A. 1

B. 9

C. 1.33

D. 4​

Answer 1

3x-4=8

add 4 to both sides

3x = 12

divide by 3

x = 12/3 = 4

Answer 2

Hi Shivonne!

First thing’s first, let’s set this up as an equation where x is the number we’re trying to find:

3x-4=8

Changing an equation from basic English to Math symbols can be a little tricky, but we can always double check to make sure we translated it right. Our equation says “three times a number minus four is eight”, which can be reworded to “four less than three times a number is eight”. So we’re set on the equation, now we need to solve!

Our next step is to get all parts with our variable x on the left of the equal sign, and everything that doesn’t have an x on the right of the equal sign. So, we can say

3x-4+4=8+4

to move our 4 to the other side. We haven’t changed our equation because we did the addition to both sides, right?

Now, we have

3x=12

We’re going to divide both sides by 3, so we can see the following

3x/3=12/3

So,

x=4.

Based on your options, the answer is D. 4.