Question

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?

Answer 1

`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`