Question

Which of the following is a term, variable, and expression n - 8?

A. a number less than eight
B. eight fewer than a number
C. eight decreased by a number
D. a number subtracted from eight

Answer 1

Notice that in the expression n - 8,

the eight is the thing being subtracted.

We could read it like this: "Eight subtracted from a number."

So we can immediately see that the last option is not correct. It's the opposite of what we want. The third option is the same as the last, just worded differently: The number 8, decreased by a number n.

The second option is correct: A number n, but eight fewer than that.

n - 8