Question

Every kid in Mr. Levans's 3rd grade class made a valentine for every kid in the class, including him- or herself. If the class made a total of 484 valentines, how many kids are in the class?

Answer 1

Let the total number of kids in Mr. Levans' 3rd grade class be x.

We know that each kid in the class made a Valentine for every kid in the class, including himself or herself.

So, the first kid made x Valentines. Likewise, the second kid too made x Valentines. If we go on so on and so forth, we will note that even the last, or the $x^{th}$ kid made x Valentines too. Thus, this way we know that every kid made x Valentines.

Therefore, the total number of Valentines made are $x\times x$. It is given in the question that the number of Valentines made is 484.

Therefore, from the above information we conclude that:

$x\times x=x^2=484$

To find x we will have to take the square root of both sides. Which will give us:

$\sqrt{x^2}=\sqrt{484}$

$x=22$

Thus, the number of kids in the class is 22.

Answer 2

I would say 22 i first looked at amount of average kids in a class then tried every number close. 484/22=22