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41 votes
41 votes
The difference of a number and its opposite is 28. Find
the number.

User Kuepper
by
2.6k points

2 Answers

17 votes
17 votes

Explanation:

Lets break this word problem down:

"The difference" means we're going to be finding x - y ("difference" means we're finding how much one value "differs" from the other)

"a number and it's opposite" so we're doing x - y, where y = -x. So already, we can re-write this as x - (-x) or x + x

"is 28" so x + x = 28 ("is" always means "equals")

"Find the number" so we're finding x.

x - (-x) = 28 (I went back a step so I could write everything out more plainly)

simplify

x + x = 28

add

2x = 28

divide both sides by 2 to get x on its own

x = 14

Answer:

14

User Josiane
by
2.8k points
12 votes
12 votes
The difference of a number and it’s opposite is 28. Find

the number.

Answer:14
User Babu Swami
by
2.6k points