Question

This year Cornell's class took one more than three times as many field trips as last year's class. This year Cornell's class took a total of 7 trips. How many field trips did his class take last year? Show the equation.

a) Last year's class took 2 field trips.
b) Last year's class took 3 field trips.
c) Last year's class took 4 field trips.
d) Last year's class took 5 field trips.

Answer 1

By setting up the equation 1 + 3x = 7 and solving for x, we find that Cornell's class took 2 field trips last year.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question involves determining the number of field trips Cornell's class took last year based on the number taken this year and a given relationship between the two figures. To solve this, we can set up an equation where x represents the number of field trips taken last year. The equation based on the given information will be:

1 + 3x = 7

Now we can solve for x:

3x = 7 - 1
3x = 6
x = 6 / 3
x = 2

Therefore, Cornell's class took 2 field trips last year, which corresponds to option (a).