When the sum of a number and -5 is multiplied by -7, the result us 49.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Take this problem apart and look at one bite at a time.
"When the sum of a number and –5 is..." What does this mean? First, there's a number. We don't know what it is so let's let X stand for it. So the sum of X and –5 is simply X +(–5), or X–5. Put some parentheses around that, like this: (X–5)
What is the next part of the problem? "...is multiplied by –7" so let's write out that multiplication: (X–5)(–7)
The problem says that that equals 49, so put it all together (X–5)(–7) = 49
Then just multiply the left side and the equation looks like this: –7X + 35 = 49
Subtract 35 from both sides –7X = 14
Divide both sides by –7 X = –2
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