HOW TO WRITE AN EQUATION & SHOW YOUR WORK

 E.O. THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS PROBLEM TO YOUR SESSION TODAY!!! 

QUESTION:

Billy has 22 Guitar picks.  All his guitar picks are either purple or green.  He has 6 more purple picks than green ones.  How many guitar picks does Billy have?

WHAT DO YOU KNOW:

Total Guitar Picks = 22

6     MORE purple picks than green ones = ADD

STEP 1:  IDENTIFY VARIABLE:

*Remember a variable can be a letter or a symbol

Green Guitar Picks = X

Purple Guitar Picks = X + 6 (Remember that there are 6 MORE purple picks than green guitar picks so this has to be X + 6 and NOT just X)

STEP 2:  WRITE THE EQUATION:

X + X + 6 = 22

  

   2X    +  6 =   22

            -6        -6   REMEMBER YOUR GOAL IS TO GET X BY IT SELF SO SUBTRACT 6 FROM BOTH SIDES

   2X     =      16      DIVIDE BY 2 TO GET X BY ITSELF

X = 16 ÷ 2

X =   8

GREEN = 8 GUITAR PICKS

PURPLE = 16 GUITAR PICKS

Remember you can not go over your TOTAL number which is 22!!!  To Double check, add 8 +16 = 22.

I will show the another way to check your answer for this problem at your next ACADEMIC MATH SESSION.