Final answer:
To find the total number of gifts donated in Max's toy drive, we need to multiply the number of gifts per family by the number of families. The correct equation representing this situation is g = 2 × 18, yielding a total of 36 gifts donated.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asked to determine the total number of gifts donated in a community toy drive when each of eighteen families donates 2 gifts each.
To do this, we need to set up an equation that represents this situation. The correct equation is 2g = 18, where g represents the number of gifts each family donates, which is given as 2.
Because 18 families participated, we multiply the number of gifts per family by the number of families to find the total number of gifts, so our equation should accurately represent this multiplication: 2g = 2 × 18.
To find the total number of gifts, we solve for g by dividing both sides of the equation by 2: g = 18. This gives us g = 9 which is incorrect because we've effectively divided the number of families by half, instead of multiplying it.
The correct equation to represent this situation is g = 2 × 18.
To solve for g, we simply multiply 2 by 18, resulting in g = 36 gifts.
Therefore, the total number of gifts donated is 36.