Four more than half of the students in Bryan’s homeroom have tickets to attend the school’s musical. 20 students have tickets.

Question

which ones are the right equation

1. 4 – 1/2m = 20
2. 1/2m + 4 = 20
3. 1/2m – 4 = 20
4. 4 = 20 – 1/2m
5. 20 + 1/2m = 4

Answer 1

2 but also 4

"4 more than" is 4+

"half the students" is (1/2)m, often sloppily written as 1/2m

4+1/2m = 20

but then

4=20-1/2m says the same thing, although not tracking the non math language quite so clearly

1,3,and 5 are just plain wrong