What is four less than y times 6 as an algebraic expression?

Answer 1

There is some ambiguity in the statement, which really requires parentheses to indicate which operation should be done first. So, four less than (y times 6) is written as 6y - 4, but (four less than y) times 6 is written as 6(y - 4). These quantities are quite different. For example, suppose that y = 5. Then, 6y - 4 works out to be 30 - 4 = 26. In comparison, 6(y - 4) = 6(5 - 4) = 6(1) = 6.