All About Variables
What symbol is representing a variable in the following expression:
"5 + x = 7" ?
The variable is represented by "x".
5 + x = 7
x = 2
18 - 9 = x
x = 9
Miss. Coish wants 11 apples. Mrs. Kelly gives her 5. How many more apples does she need to reach her desired total?
She would need 6 more apples.
You have 12 toys and 4 bins. You split the toys evenly between the bins. How many toys are in one bin?
There are 3 toys in each bin.
What does a variable represent?
A variable represents an unknown value.
x + x = 22
x = 11
14 - x = x
x = 7
Tony has 2 dogs and his brother owns 1 dog. When his sister came to visit them, there were 8 dogs in the yard. How many dogs must his sister have brought?
His sister brought 5 dogs.
Ezra collected 35 eggs in a week. They equally divided them into 7 baskets. How many eggs are in each basket?
There are 5 eggs in each basket.
If the same variable appears more than once in a question, what does that mean?
Each time that variable appears they have the SAME unknown value.
24 + 9 = x + 13
x = 20
45 - 20 = x - 5
x = 30
Ahmed had 14 candies. He gave some to his friend Mina. If he now has 8 candies, how many did he give Mina?
Ahmed gave Mina 6 candies.
Lisa is making picture frames with popsicle sticks. Each frame uses 4 popsicle sticks. If she has 36 total popsicle sticks, how many frames can she make?
She can make 9 picture frames.
Is there a specific symbol we use when representing a variable?
No, any symbol can be used to represent the variable. For example, "x", "y", or "?"
15 + 8 = 10 + x
x = 13
29 - 15 = 20 - x
x = 6
There were 71 eggs collected in total.
Jennie is giving each of her friends 3 pieces of candy. If she has 27 pieces of candy, how many friends could she share with?
Jennie could share her candy with 9 friends.