Question

Build Understanding: A betting machine uses an automatic baseball feeder. During baseball practice, the feeder is full. An attendant fills it with 15 baseballs so that the feeder is now full. How many baseballs does the feeder hold when full? Write an equation to represent the problem.

Answer 1

To determine the full capacity of the baseball feeder, we can reason that since the feeder was filled with 15 baseballs to reach full capacity, the total capacity of the feeder is simply 15 baseballs.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks us to determine how many baseballs a fully loaded baseball feeder can hold. It is mentioned that the feeder was initially full. An attendant then adds 15 more baseballs to refill it to full capacity. To find the full capacity of the baseball feeder, we can define the unknown total capacity as 'x' and create an equation based on the given information.

The equation to represent this would be:

x - 15 = x

However, this equation suggests that the number of balls added (15) is equal to the number of balls that were there before, which doesn't help us find the total capacity. In this context, an equation doesn't accurately represent the situation because the total capacity 'x' is what we're seeking, not something we're solving for with an equation. Instead, we know that 15 baseballs fill up the feeder, so directly, the total capacity of the feeder is 15 baseballs.