Question

Jessie installed 12 more axles than the number of engine blocks her friend Gus installed yesterday. Write an equation for g, the number of engine blocks Gus installed yesterday.

Answer 1

g = x - 12

where x is the number of axles installed by Jessie

Explanation:

Using a simple analogy. If a man has 7 cars while his friend has 3 cars, The statement may be written as the man has 4 cars more than his friend. The 4 cars being the difference between the number of cars he has and the number his friend has.

As such, if the number of engine blocks installed by Gus is g and Jessie installed 12 more axles than the number of engine blocks Gus installed yesterday, where Jessie must have installed x axles,

x = g + 12

Such that

g = x - 12

Answer 2

g = j - 12

Explanation:

We know that if g is Gus' number of engine quantity, then j is Jessie's number of engine quantity, from this statement we have that Jessie made 12 more than Gus, therefore:

j = g + 12

if we solve for g:

g = j - 12

which is the same as saying that Gus made 12 number of engine less than Jessie