Question

Jill sold half of her comic books and then bought sixteen more. she now has 36. With how many did she begin?

Answer 1

Let x = number she had at the beginning

Answer 2

"Jill sold half of her comic books", so she has

x - x/2 = 2x/2 - x/2 = x/2

comics left

Answer 3

"...and then bought sixteen more." means she now has x/2 + 16 comics

Answer 4

Since we know she now has 36 books, we know that

x/2 + 16 = 36

Answer 5

Solve that for x to get your answer

Answer 6

how would i start it off

Answer 7

subtract 16 from both sides

Answer 8

then divide both by 2?

Answer 9

then multiply both sides by 2

Answer 10

tell me what you get

Answer 11

40

Answer 12

you got it

Answer 13

thank you!

Answer 14

you're welcome