Final answer:
The equation that best describes the balance, b, on Jim's movie theater gift certificate in terms of the number of movies watched, m, is b = 30 - 5m. This is because $35 is deducted for each movie watched, but the question must contain a typo as the gift certificate only has $30 to start with.
Step-by-step explanation:
The movie theater gift certificate question asked by the student is a basic algebra problem that involves creating an equation to represent the relationship between the movie viewings, m, and the balance, b, on Jim's gift certificate. To find the correct equation, we need to consider how the balance decreases with each movie Jim watches. Initially, Jim had $30 on his certificate. Each time Jim watches a movie, $35 is deducted, which means his balance decreases by $35. So, we can express the balance b as the initial amount of $30 minus $35 times the number of movies m that Jim has watched. Therefore, the equation describing b in terms of m is b = 30 - 5m. The correct answer to the question is option a) b = 30 - 5m.