Question

A student usually saves $20 a month. He would like to reach a goal of saving $350 in 12 months. The student writes the equation 350 = 12 (x + 20) to represent this situation. Solve the equation for x. ​

• Show your work or explain your answer.
​• Write your answer as a sentence that describes what the variable x represents.

Answer 1

350=12(x+20)

We simplify the equation to the form, which is simple to understand
350=12(x+20)

Reorder the terms in parentheses
350=+(+12x+240)

Remove unnecessary parentheses
+350=+12x+240

We move all terms containing x to the left and all other terms to the right.
-12x=+240-350

We simplify left and right side of the equation.
-12x=-110

We divide both sides of the equation by -012 to get x.
x=9.1666666666667