How do you solve #w-16.7=8.27#?

Question

Ethan Adkins · Accepted Answer

#w = 24.97#

This is a fairly simple algebraic problem to solve, but in order to better understand the problem at hand, think about this:

You have an unknown number, #w#, in which you have to remove 16.7 from it to get a known value, 8.27. To put it another way, you can think of #w# as the amount of money you gave a cashier for an item that cost $16.70, and you were given back $8.27. Since you don't know how much money you gave the cashier, you need to do a little bit of math to figure that out. What's one way you can think of approaching this problem, conceptually?

If your statement was that you simply added the two amounts together, then you are correct!

Algebraically speaking, since you want to isolate the #w#, you will need to add 16.7 to each side. Why do you want to do that? It's because that's the only number you can add to the left side of the equation that will cause the unknown value, #w#, to be all alone. Anything that you do to one side of the equal side, you need to do to the other.

This is how it appears:

You started out with #w−16.7=8.27#

This is how 16.7 added to each side looks:

#w−16.7 (+16.7)=8.27(+16.7)#

You are left with the following after the -16.7 and the positive 16.7 cancel each other out:

#w=8.27+16.7#

Your answer is 24.97, as you can determine by simple addition, so:

#w = 24.97#

The idea is to try to isolate the unknown variable as easily as possible. I purposely chose to add 16.7 because I knew that it would eliminate the negative 16.7 on the left side of the equation, but I could have added 25 (for example), as long as I did it to both sides. Adding 25, though, wouldn't be very practical because I'd be left in the same position. This is something that is important to keep in mind, and that can be confusing at first.

Eva Adamson · Answer

undefined To solve $ w - 16.7 = 8.27 $, you would first add 16.7 to both sides of the equation to isolate $ w $. Then, you would simplify to find the value of $ w $. So, $ w = 8.27 + 16.7 $, which equals $ 24.97 $.

Savannah Anderson · Answer

undefined To solve the equation $ w - 16.7 = 8.27 $, you can isolate the variable $ w $ by adding 16.7 to both sides of the equation:

$ w = 8.27 + 16.7 $

$ w = 24.97 $

So, the solution for $ w $ is $ 24.97 $.