Question

The sum of x and 9 is divided by 3.This can be written as...

Answer 1

(x+9)/3

Explanation

x and 9 = x+9

divided by 3 = /3

But maths has a rule: multiply and divide first and then add and subtract.

So you need to add brackets in x+9 to add first.

Therefore, the answer is (x+9)/3

Answer 2

Breaking this down, you have “the sum of something is divided by 3”, so this means you’ll have _____/3
“The sum of x and 9” means you need to add x and 9: x+9

The key is that the entire sum needs to be divided by 3, so you must have parentheses around the x+9.

This gives (x+9)/3