Question

A while back, either James borrowed $12 from his friend Rita or she borrowed $12 from him, but he can’t quite remember which. Either way, he is planning to pay her back or ask that she pay him back this afternoon. If he has $42.80 in his wallet, which equation represents the amounts of money he may have after he sees Rita?

Answer 1

"A while back, either James borrowed $12 from his friend Rita or she borrowed $12 from him, but he can’t quite remember which. Either way, he is planning to pay her back or ask that she pay him back this afternoon. If he has $42.80 in his wallet, which equation represents the amount of money he may have after he sees Rita?"

The answer is, "|x – 42.80| = 12"

Answer 2

Either
if he pays her back: 42.80-12 --------- this would equal 30.80
or if she pays him back 42.80+ 12------- this would equal 54.80