Final answer:
The number we are looking for is 80. To find it, we set up an equation based on the riddle: 20 + (1/2)x = 60, and then solve for x to get the answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
Let's assume the number we're looking for is x. According to the problem, starting with 20 and adding half of x equals 60. So, we can write that as 20 + (1/2)x = 60. Solving this equation, we first subtract 20 from both sides, getting (1/2)x = 40. Multiplying both sides by 2 to get rid of the fraction, we have x = 80. Thus, the number we're looking for is 80.
To reach a solution, we translate the riddle into a simple algebraic equation. We start with the number 20, and we know that when we add half of some unknown number (x), we get 60. This translates to the equation 20 + (1/2)x = 60. Following basic algebra principles, we aim to isolate x on one side of the equation to find its value. We subtract 20 from both sides to get (1/2)x = 40. Because (1/2)x means half of x, we understand that doubling 40 will give us the full value of x. Therefore, we multiply each side of the equation by 2, resulting in x = 80. Hence, the number that solves the riddle is 80. It's essential to work step-by-step to solve such problems accurately and understand the mathematical reasoning behind the operations we perform.