Question

Albert thought of a number, added 5, multiplied the result by 2, took away 6 and then divided by 2 to give an answer of 8. What number did Albert think of to get his answer?

5

Answer 1

6

Explanation:

Let x be the number Albert thought about.

1. Albert thought of a number, added 5, then he got x+5.

2. Albert multiplied the result by 2, then he got 2(x+5).

3. He took away 6, then the number became 2(x+5)-6.

4. Albert divided the result by 2 to get the number

`(2(x+5)-6)/(2)`

that is 8.

5. Thus, you can state that

`(2(x+5)-6)/(2)=8,\\ \\2(x+5)-6=16,\\ \\2(x+5)=16+6,\\ \\2(x+5)=22,\\ \\x+5=22:2,\\ \\x+5=11,\\ \\x=11-5,\\ \\x=6.`