Question

41) 124 students went on a field trip. Three

buses were filled and 4 students traveled
in cars. How many students were in each
bus? Write an equation and solve.

Answer 1

Start with what the question "how many students were in each bus?". We dont know that value, so let's call that x for now.

x = number of students in 1 bus

We have 3 buses, so we represent that by 3x

3x = number of students in 3 buses

Then add on 4 to represent the number of students who took a car

3x+4 = total number of students

3x+4 = 124 is the equation we need to solve

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Let's solve for x

3x+4 = 124

3x+4-4 = 124-4 .... subtract 4 from both sides

3x = 120

3x/3 = 120/3 .... divide both sides by 3

x = 40 is the number of students in one bus

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Each bus holds 40 students

3 buses hold 3*x = 3*40 = 120 students

adding on those 4 additional students gets us to 120+4 = 124 so we've confirmed the answer.

Answer 2

40 students on each bus

Explanation:

If you subtract the 4 students that traveled by car from the total 124 students, you are left with 120 students riding the 3 buses. Then, you would divide 120 by 3. (120 students divided by 3 buses.) 120/3 = 40