Question

Chip picked a number. He multiplied the number by 7 and then decreased it by 33. Fiona took the same number and found that 15 less than 10 time the number results in the same value.

Answer 1

Explanation:

Let's start by translating the information given into equations.

If Chip picked a number, let's call it x.

According to the problem, he multiplied the number by 7, which gives us:

7x

Then he decreased it by 33:

7x - 33

So Chip's final result is 7x - 33.

Now let's consider Fiona's equation. She took the same number x and found that 15 less than 10 times the number results in the same value:

10x - 15

So we have two equations:

7x - 33 = 10x - 15

Simplifying this equation, we get:

-3x = 18

Dividing both sides by -3, we get:

x = -6

Therefore, Chip picked -6 as his number. To check that Fiona's equation also works, we can substitute x = -6 into 10x - 15 and see if we get the same result as 7x - 33:

10(-6) - 15 = -60 - 15 = -75

7(-6) - 33 = -42 - 33 = -75

Both equations give the same result of -75, so Fiona's equation also holds for x = -6.