Question

Grace thought of a number, added 7, multiplied by 3, took away 5 and divided by 4 to give an answer of 7. What was her starting number?

A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5
E. 6
F. 7

Answer 1

To find Grace's starting number, we can set up an equation based on the given information and solve for the variable.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let's break this down step by step.

1. Grace thought of a number, let's call it x.
2. Grace added 7 to that number, so now the number is x + 7.
3. Grace multiplied the result by 3, so now the number is 3(x + 7) = 3x + 21.
4. Grace took away 5 from the result, so now the number is 3x + 21 - 5 = 3x + 16.
5. Grace divided the result by 4 and got an answer of 7, so now we have (3x + 16) / 4 = 7.
6. To solve for x, we can multiply both sides of the equation by 4 to get rid of the division: 3x + 16 = 28.
7. Then, we can subtract 16 from both sides of the equation to isolate the variable: 3x = 12.
8. Finally, we divide both sides of the equation by 3 to solve for x: x = 4.

Therefore, Grace's starting number was 4.