Bob originally had 51 baseball cards and gave away 17. The correct equation is c = 51 - 17, and after solving it, we find that Bob has 34 cards left.
The student is presented with a simple subtraction problem involving baseball cards. Originally, Bob has 51 cards, and he gives away 17. To find out how many cards he has left, we subtract 17 from 51. Therefore, the equation that represents the situation is:
c = 51 - 17
To solve for c, we do the calculation:
c = 34
So Bob is left with 34 baseball cards after giving away 17.