475 exceeds five times a number by 85?

Answer 1

Easiest way to figure this out is to re-state, in algebraic form, your original question.

It might take a bit to think about what the question is asking, you know that you will have a variable (x) and it will by multiplied by 5. So, you have 5x.

You have 475 exceeding 5x + 85, hmmm, does this fit the original question? YUP! okay, you need an equation, therefore, you can take the word "exceeding" and change that to an equals sign.

Now, you have 475 = 5x + 85. Does this re-state your original question. Yup! Ta Da! we have ourselves an equation! Now we solve for x.

To isolate x, first subtract 85 from both sides of the equation, to get 475 - 85 = 5x + (85-85).

Now you have 390 = 5x

Divide both sides by 5, to get 390 ÷ 5 = (5 ÷ 5)x

now you have your solution, because you have isolated x on one side of the equation. That solution would be: x = 78.