Question

There are 12 people in a restaurant

each person orders either coffee or tea

if c people order coffee, write an expression for the number of people who order tea

Answer 1

12 - c

Explanation:

Each person orders tea or coffee.

c people order coffee.

t people order tea.

Altogether there are 12 people, so we have this equation:

t + c = 12

Now we solve the equation for tea by subtracting c from both sides.

t = 12 - c

Answer: 12 - c