How do you translate the following statement "The difference between a number and four is twenty " into an algebraic expression and then find the number?

1 Answer
Mar 5, 2016

n-4=20, n=24

Explanation:

Difference means subtraction.
'A number' can be represented by a variable. In this case, we'll use n as our variable.

So, our algebraic expression will be: n-4=20

To solve this we must use algebra.

n-4=20

We must first move the -4 over to the right-hand side to get n, our variable, by itself. When we do this, we must also change its operation/sign from negative to positive.

n=20+4

Lastly, we just have to solve the right-hand side of our equation and we'll have our final answer.

n=24