How do you translate the following statement "Five less than a number is seventeen" into an algebraic expression and then find the number?

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Answer 1 · 2018-03-28T02:56:10

$x-5=17$
(22)

So we know that the number we are looking for is five more than seventeen.

$x-5=17$
$x=+5=+5$
so we will need to add the number on the left of the equals sign to get the x by itself.
Add the 5 to the 17.
(22)
$x=22$

So $x-5=17$ would be the translated expression.

Answer 2 · 2018-03-28T02:58:00

See the process below:

We can represent "a number" as "x".

"Five less than a number" would be the same as saying " $x - 5$ ", and this will be equal to 17, so the full equation is:

$x - 5 = 17$

To find the number representative of x, add five to both sides to get $x = 22$ .