Question

Sue has $40,000 in her savings account. She use some of the money to put towards a house. She has $36,479 left. How much did she put towards the house. Solve and write an equation with a variable to represent the unknown.

Answer 1

x = $3,521

Explanation:

let the amount of money that she put towards a house be represented by the variable x

Hence,

total savings = amount put towards house + amount left

$40,000 = x + $36,479 (rearrange)

x + $36,479 = $40,000 (subtract $36,479 from both sides)

x = $40,000 - $36,479

x = $3,521