EXPRESSIONS
"five less than the product of 4 and a number b is 9."
Let's break it down step-by-step.
Five less than - we're subtracting 5
the product of 4 and b => we're multiplying 4 times b, which gives us 4b.
this equals 9.
We get the following equation:
4b - 5 = 9
You can find b by adding 5 to both sides and then dividing by 4:
4b = 14
b = 14/4
b = 7/2