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Twice a number is 16 greater than two times the opposite of the number. What is the number

User MuhKuh
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1 Answer

3 votes

Answer:

4

Explanation:

Let's say our number is n.

First, we have two times a number. This can be represented by 2 times our number, n, or 2*n

Next, we have that is 16 greater than ... It is hard to conceptualize what 2*n is 16 greater than, so we can move on and save this for later.

Furthermore, we have two times the opposite of the number. Opposite represents the opposite side of a number line, e.g. if the number was 5, the opposite would be -5. This can be represented by multiplying our number n by -1, or -1 * n = -n. We then take two times of this opposite, or 2 * -1 * n = -2 * n.

So far, we have 2*n is 16 greater than -2 * n. We can then say that if a first number is 16 greater than a second number, we must add 16 to the second number to get the first number. Applying that here, we can say that 2*n = -2*n + 16

We then have

2*n = -2*n + 16

We then want to separate the n from the real number(s) (16 in this case). To do that, we can add 2*n to both sides, making our equation

2*n+2*n = 16

4*n = 16

Then, we can finally divide both sides by 4 to get

n = 4

User Brett Porter
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