Question

Heather's penny bank is 2/3 full. After she removes 80 pennies, it is 1/2 full. How many pennies can Heather's bank hold?

Answer 1

These "written problems" can be troubling, but try and focus and first what is being asked. In this problem they want to know how many pennies Heather's bank will hold.
Let x = the number of pennies that Heather's bank will hold.
(2/3)x is how many pennies she now has in the bank.
2x/3 - 80 leaves her bank 1/2 full or since full is x then this is actually:
2x/3 - 80 = x/2 There is your equation .........solve it for x.