Final answer:
The student's checking account had $23.50 before withdrawing $47.25, which results in the current balance of -$23.75.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the amount of money in the student's checking account before the $47.25 withdrawal, when their current balance is -$23.75, we can set up the following equation:
Let x represent the original amount in the account. The equation would be:
x - 47.25 = -23.75
To solve for x, we add 47.25 to both sides of the equation:
x = -23.75 + 47.25
Now, we calculate the right-hand side:
x = 23.50
So, the amount of money in the account before the withdrawal was $23.50.